The Dauntless Free
by FaeSong
Summary: Four's younger sister follows him to Dauntless after an especially hellish two years without him in Marcus' house. AU with no war. Tobias/Tris, Eric/OFC, Uriah/OFC friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** So, I am trying to ease back into writing, after having no time for it for many, many months. I recently decided to read Divergent after my sister took me to see the movie, and literally finished the entire first book in less than a day. It was amazing! I have also read some fics where Four has a younger sister, and Eric is a more sympathetic character. I sort of love these stories, and figured I'd try my hand at it. There is no war in this fic, and I haven't read the second or third book of the trilogy anyway, so this is very much AU. I would love to hear any thoughts y'all might have! Happy reading. :D

**Disclaimer: **Don't own anything; not even a copy of the book, which I borrowed from my sis!

**Chapter One: Dauntless**

_ The house was silent. I'd been forced to stay home by my father, with the excuse that I was feeling unwell, I'm sure. Choosing Day. I knew he'd forced me not to come so I couldn't give Tobias my support, so I couldn't be there for my older brother as he made the hardest decision of his life. I think I knew too that Tobias would be leaving us, leaving me. What choice was there? He had to get out. In two years, I would do exactly the same. Just two years…_

_ I was cooking dinner when he came home, worse than a raging bull. The door slammed open, impossibly loud in the reserved Abnegation settlement. Any noise he made would be muffled by the thick concrete walls surrounding us._

_ "You!" he roared. I whirled to face him and dropped my head submissively. It hadn't been long since I'd been beaten, but the last one hadn't been too terribly severe. Tobias protected me; he always had. I knew I would not be so fortunate this time, or likely any time again, and fear suddenly seized me, making me unable to move. "You did this, you ungrateful, selfish devil of a child!"_

_ "I apologize, Father, but please… I don't understand," I replied meekly. It was a lie, an act, but not one I felt at all sorry for. Meek, quiet, unassuming. These qualities were the only things that saved a child of Marcus Eaton. He didn't even yell and berate me further, never a good sign. Instead, he stripped the wide, dark belt from around his waist and grabbed me by the hair without another word, forcing me over the nearby grey wooden table__._

* * *

As the first lash fell, she woke with a stifled yell. She didn't have to finish the nightmare to know what came next. It was written in her skin in vicious red scars and years of pain. That night had been the worst beating she'd ever remembered receiving; worse even than the blows that inevitably fell on both Eaton children when one would step in for the other. She'd been unconscious before he finished with the lashing.

Selfish.

Ungrateful.

Wasted space.

Useless.

Stupid.

These were words she was familiar with, words she'd known even as a small child. Words she'd let define her for too long. It was no surprise that she would dream of that beating today, given what day it was. Two years ago to the day, Tobias had left her. He'd had to do it, she knew that, but the intervening two years had been… hardening. They had sharpened her like a whetstone without the guard her brother provided. And there was a part of her, no matter how hard she tried to bury it, that was angry. Angry at Marcus for being a weak, cruel man – angry at Abnegation for ignoring it, whether willfully or because they truly didn't see – yes, angry at all that. But also… angry at Tobias. Her beloved brother. Most of the time, she missed him desperately. Other times… only the darkest times, she hoped she would never see him again. She didn't know what to do or say when she did.

They'd been inseparable for fourteen years, her entire life. They'd protected one another, healed each other, comforted through the pain. And he'd left. The leaving she could understand. Even his choice of Dauntless made perfect sense, but why cut her off? Why leave her helpless and alone with a known monster so completely. No contact for two years. She hadn't seen his face, hadn't heard or spoken his name. He was seen as a traitor in Abnegation, almost universally. The leader's son, who'd left their unselfish ways to pursue a life of violence. Unspeakable.

The thoughts tumbled around her head as she dressed herself in her Abnegation grey, prepared breakfast for her father, and left to walk to the Hub with food in her pack for the Factionless she would pass on the way. She knew better than to eat any of it herself. Her father would come later in a car, but in the meantime she would enjoy the semi-peaceful walk.

Choosing Day again, and this time her own. Her test was fairly normal and expected. Abnegation. There was one advantage, she supposed, to having a leader for a father. At least she knew the right answers to keep him appeased. To keep them all appeased until she gave them her final choice today. And she knew what that choice would be, though Tobias would not be happy about it.

His final words echoed through her ears on the silent walk to the Hub. _"Don't follow me where I'm going, sister," he'd said so solemnly, "Go where you will be happy. That is all I ask of you. Be happy."_

But could she do that? She wasn't even sure if she was capable of happiness anymore.

* * *

The names of other sixteen-year-olds were called one by one in the gentle parody of her father's voice. She searched desperately for a familiar dark brown head in the crowd. He looked so like a younger, softer version of their father with his eternally messy hair and sharp features. Was he taller? Surely he'd at least put on some muscle, although he'd never been scrawny like she was. He was built like their father. Unlike her brother, she had her mother's curly black hair and petite build. Both Eaton children had the cool, deep-set eyes of the Abnegation leader, but Tobias' were a dark, rich blue where his sister's were the palest shade of grey, like their father's.

She was disappointed, though rather unsurprised, when she couldn't find him. Did he remember what the day meant to her? Did he even care? What if she got there and he didn't even recognize her? She looked worse than the day he left at this point. Or, at least, she suspected she did; it was hard to tell without access to a mirror.

The list of names continued to pass. It was hard to focus with so many people around them, so many whispering voices and shuffling feet. Finally, it was her turn. Her name was called, and she made her way on incredibly unsteady legs to the front of the room, five bowls standing before her.

Marcus was still glaring at her as she defiantly glared back for the first time since her brother left, and squeezed her bleeding hand over the fiery coals in the brazier on the end.

She was Dauntless.

* * *

"So…" a voice said to her once they were safely on the train, as one of the other Initiates slid down the metal wall to sit beside her. It was the dark-skinned, Dauntless-born boy who'd explained how she had to get on as they ran toward their customary mode of transportation. "Two Abnegation transfers to Dauntless in one year. Has that ever happened before?"

"Of course it has," another voice said, this one belonging to another transfer. Erudite, if his know-it-all tone was anything to go by. "Although not in…" he appeared to think for a moment, "at least two decades."

"Well, I guess we just like to be different then," the other Abnegation girl cut in with a wry grin. Beatrice Prior. Her father was one of the leaders in their Faction, working under Marcus.

"Does Abnegation always spit out such scrawny little girls?" one of the bigger boys teased good-naturedly, earning a snicker from the others. He was dressed in the black and white of Candor, so his blunt question wasn't really out of place.

"Hey now," Beatrice snarked, "at least introduce yourselves before you start picking on us poor little Abnegation transfers." She hadn't lost the grin since they'd started running.

"Uriah," the first boy to speak said with a nod and a charming smile.

"Will." The Erudite boy who'd answered Uriah's question.

"Beatrice." Abnegation.

"Al." Candor. The one who called them scrawny.

"Christina." Candor.

"Edward." Erudite.

"Hey, you gonna tell us your name?" Edward asked the only girl in their little circle who continued to stare out the window. She hadn't said a word, except to thank Uriah for his advice on getting on the train, since she'd made her decision. Her mind was firmly fixed on Tobias. Would he be at the Dauntless compound? Would he be angry with her for disobeying, for following him?

"Lilliana," Beatrice supplied when the other girl didn't speak up. "Her name is Lilliana."

"Eaton?!" Will demanded. "The Abnegation leader's daughter? I thought we'd misheard when the news reached us at the back of the line."

Lilliana replied with a jerky, hesitant nod. The conversation continued around her as the train sped on. Dauntless-born and Transfers alike were nervous for this new adventure, although all were excited as well. She found, despite the new found freedom to be allowed to speak and even to ask questions, that she had nothing to say. The other Initiates around her seemed kind enough, but had they ever noticed the meek little girl hiding in the corner of the class before? Had they ignored her bruises like the rest of Abnegation? Had Beatrice, from her own Faction, ignored her pain? Or had she simply not known?

* * *

"Up you go, Transfer," Uriah's voice interrupted her musings after what felt like an impossibly short time. He was kind as he pulled her to her feet by her arm, but his grin had been replaced with a contemplative, questioning look. Who was this little Abnegation who didn't speak? He knew she could speak – she'd thanked him verbally as they ran for the train – so why was she so unwilling? He had her name, but nothing about her made sense. The other Abnegation transfer didn't seem to have a problem voicing her thoughts. "Come on, we have to jump."

Lilliana glanced out the open door, to where she knew they would have to land on the roof if they wanted to make it into Dauntless. Uriah still had a hand on her arm, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. When was the last time someone touched her without the intent to cause pain? Abnegation didn't do physical contact, and she hadn't had any friends anyway. Tobias. Tobias was the last person to touch her gently. Her eyes were locked curiously on the dark hand on her grey sleeve. Why was this boy being so nice?

"Alright," was all she said to him, and he dropped his hand to move toward an open door with the girl behind. The jump looked much wider than she thought it really was. Heights didn't really scare her, but even the Dauntless-born looked a bit worried now. Jumping from a moving train over a seven-story drop. Sure… why not?

Before she was even aware of what was going on, she was tucking and rolling on the gravel covered rooftop. She didn't rush to the wall like the others when she heard the scream that signaled one of the Initiates falling. She didn't have the energy left in her. There was an Amity boy still on the train as well. Two down already. What new nightmare had she signed up for? It took only a fleeting moment for her to decide that at least this pain and danger she could control. It was her choice now.

She didn't listen as Max, the leader who introduced himself at the edge of the hole, told them what was expected. There was another man next to him, this one much younger, but she didn't much care about him either. The adrenaline of standing up to her father was wearing off, and now she really just found herself ready to fall into an exhausted sleep. Her back throbbed and burned, her head ached, and she felt a little light-headed. The only thing more important than sleep to her at this point was finding Tobias. Beatrice stood on one side of Lilliana, and Uriah on the other. She wasn't sure if it was because they thought she might fall, or because they both wanted the comfort of another body close, but they pressed shoulder to shoulder with the smaller girl, making her want to squirm as she felt their warm weight against the fresh lashes on her skin.

An instant later, a hand was in hers, squeezing for mutual encouragement, and then Beatrice was gone, moving forward to volunteer to jump first. More jumping? Lilliana still couldn't muster the energy to be frightened. There were more frightening things in this world than a test of bravery that couldn't possibly be designed to kill. If it was, Dauntless would be an endangered faction.

"You ready?" Uriah asked, once Beatrice was down the hole. "Or do you want to wait? It will look better if you go sooner."

"Sure," she replied, moving forward. She was only mildly surprised when he didn't let go of her hand, earning a raised multi-pierced brow and a smirk from the younger of the two leaders in front of them.

"Let's let the other Stiff go next, Eric," Uriah said flippantly, finally releasing his grip, albeit reluctantly. He wasn't sure what it was about this emotionless little girl, but something was off, and he wanted to know what. He felt protective, which wasn't exactly out of the norm from him, but there was more than that. She didn't make sense. The deprecating name didn't even register with Lilliana; nor did the wave of snickers from most of the others, and sharp protests from her new acquaintances. A small, almost menacing grin was what met the request.

"What's your name, little Stiff?" Eric asked, his eyes glinting coldly. She didn't answer, and the menacing grin turned into an even more menacing scowl. "You answer when one of your leaders asks a question, Stiff," he snapped, moving forward a step. Uriah poked his new friend in the shoulder a bit roughly, and she only barely contained a wince in response.

"Lilla," she said in a monotone, matching Eric's cold look with one of her own. Shortening her name came naturally. She'd never liked hearing the long version before, and Tobias had always called her Lily. She couldn't quite bring herself to use that, but Lilla would work. Uriah almost wanted to roll his eyes and tug her hair sharply in warning. _Don't bait Eric!_ he thought almost desperately, _Of all the leaders to bait, she just had to choose the cruelest, most vicious one they had_…

"Well then," the young leader sneered, "I suggest you jump soon if you don't want to be thrown off." He wore a predatory smirk. "I might just miss the hole if I have to do that." He leaned over to whisper dangerously in her ear, "Splat."

"Sure." Without another word, Lilla stepped up to the edge. She kept one eye on Eric, her instincts too well-honed to take her attention completely from a threat like him. The black hole beneath her opened its maw, ready to swallow her. For the first time, she found herself hesitating. Whatever was at the bottom, it could be as safe as possible and it would still hurt like hell. Her back was not going to like this…

"Go on then Lilla," Uriah encouraged with another kind smile. Beatrice had taken off her sweater to throw at the Candor boy, Peter, when he taunted her, but Lilla could do no such thing. Exposing her wounds, her weakness, was out of the question. So instead, she just gave Eric a defiant glare, closed her eyes, and jumped.

The wind rushed by as she fell, a freeing feeling unlike anything she had ever felt before. Flying was beautiful, and for the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt a smile come almost naturally. That is, until her torn skin met the net with no small force. It pulled and rubbed against the lacerations and bruises on her back, as if there weren't several layers of fabric between them, and Lilla climbed out of the net with a cringe she couldn't hide.

"Name," a cool voice said carelessly. She froze. The boy wasn't even looking up at her as she scrambled to her feet, but she knew that messy head of hair. Even if the voice wasn't at all the same, she would recognize him anywhere. There was no mistaking the tilt of his head, his shoulders. She'd bent over him, cleaning up his back countless times. "Name, Initiate!" he snarled when she didn't answer, eyes finally off the list in his hand, but flicking right back down. "Another Stiff?" he groaned.

"L-Lilla," she said, stuttering a bit. For the barest second, she watched as his eyes flew up and recognition, followed by shock, and then anger flashed through them, so similar to her own.

"Out of the way then, _Lilla_," he said, returning to his cool demeanor as if he didn't know her. "There are more jumpers coming. Go stand with the other Abnegation over there, and wait."

As she moved robotically, Lilla felt her heart shattering. It felt like her brother had punched her in the gut harder than their father ever had. She was mildly dizzy. It was only Tris' steadying hand and Uriah's _whoop!_ as he followed her down the hole that brought her back from the edge of darkness she was about to tumble into. The Dauntless-born pulled himself out of the net and joined the girls.

"You know," he teased good-naturedly, "Looking at you two shrimps in your mousey greys makes me want to see if I could just hold you up in the air until you conceded defeat!" Tris gave him a sour look, but the other girl didn't respond. Even more than her total lack of care she'd displayed before, there was now a broken look in her eyes, only there if you were looking really closely. "Hey," he said, sobering, "What's wrong Lilla?" Tris glanced at her fellow Abnegation, startled. Was anything different than before?

"You okay?" she asked, setting one hand on the other girl's shoulder. Lilla flinched away. It was subtle, but it was there.

"'M fine," she said, her eyes on the floor. Uriah tilted his head to try to see into her eyes. As he watched his new friend, the other Initiates continued to make their terrified, exhilarating way into Dauntless. He thought maybe he ought to join the other Dauntless-born, but he didn't want to leave Lilla. For all her emotionlessness and lack of fear, she seemed almost… fragile. Not fragile in the way Tris seemed, physically - although he thought she probably could use to add some muscle - but emotionally fragile. Lost maybe?

"No you're not," he argued, before looking to Tris, "What happened between when she jumped and when I did?"

"Nothing! She just landed, talked to the guy with the list for a second, and came over here." Her attention turned to the other girl. "Did you get hurt Lillian-err… Lilla? I saw you wince when you got up, but I didn't think it was serious."

"Hurt?" Uriah questioned, running his eyes over her again. She did hold herself as if bracing for pain, but he didn't think that was anything new. Her posture had been like that all day, but he'd sort of assumed that scrunching in on oneself was an Abnegation thing. He figured they'd had classes together at school, but he didn't remember either Abnegation girl. Their faction didn't want to be memorable.

"I'm not hurt," Lilla protested, finally regaining some awareness. "Just tired. Aren't you?" The other two looked skeptical, especially Uriah, but they let it go as the final Initiates joined them and the leaders spoke up again.

Lilla watched her brother as he, a woman named Lauren, and Eric took turns speaking, unable to take her eyes off him. He'd changed so much. Never before had she seen him so… cold. So callous. He'd gotten right in Christina's face when she asked too many questions. She didn't remember her brother ever confronting anyone, except to defend her from their father.

* * *

Unbeknownst to the new Transfer, her interest in Four (as he'd introduced himself) had drawn someone else's eye. Eric watched the girl watch his former peer. She had a stark, abject look in her eye that he knew well, but he couldn't figure out what put it there. One thing he was sure of, he could exploit it, if he felt like it. What did she want with Four though? And what the hell was such a quiet little Stiff doing in Dauntless? She hardly spoke a word, but looked at him without fear. The lack of fear was not something he was used to. Since his first fight in his own Initiate class, he'd struck fear into his fellows. And this little bit of grey fluff looked back at him as if he wasn't the scariest thing in the world. Who the hell was she, anyway?

"Alright, Dauntless-born with Lauren, Transfers follow Four," he finally said once the rules were established. He watched as the protective Dauntless-born reluctantly left the Abnegation fluff with a final squeeze of her hand. _Stupid_, he thought of Uriah, _getting attached to a sure washout. What's he gonna do when the fluff is Factionless?_

* * *

Lilla followed her fellow Initiates in continued silence. Without Uriah on her right, the deficit was filled by Edward walking hand-in-hand with Myra, with Will on her other side. Tris had fallen back to walk with Al and Christina. Four spoke little as he led the newcomers to their bunk room.

Though he hid it well, his attention was firmly on his sister. She looked rough, worse even than he remembered. What had their monstrous father done to her in the past two years to make her so… flat? Or was it his, Tobias', fault? Had he broken her when he left her alone, more effectively than Marcus' beatings had? He wasn't sure he really wanted to know the answer to that. It was too late now. Rage boiled in him as he thought of his baby sister in the harshest Faction with him. He'd come here because he wanted to protect the innocent, and to escape Marcus. So why had she? Why couldn't she have done as he asked, and gone to Amity? She deserved that sort of kindness in her life, but he didn't think she'd find such a thing here.

_Damn it_, he thought, _What the hell do we do now?_


	2. Chapter 2

**An: **So, I just wanted to say thank you very much for the reviews, follows, and favorites I've gotten so far! It has been refreshing to get feedback on my writing. I am trying to get a few chapters out this week, because I will be away for a couple of weeks after that, and I think I am doing well on that front. :D Hopefully I will get a little more interaction between Lilla and Four before I go. One note on Eric: I know he's a little off, but we never really see his inner thoughts in the book, only the behavior that results, and I figure that without the war and all, he might not be so nasty. I hope I've struck some semblance of a balance between him being just a complete jerk (which he is) and being the evil psychopath he is in canon. I quite like my headcanon for him! Haha.

**Chapter Two: Friends and Foes**

"Hey, up you get, Mouse," an amused, slightly raspy voice whispered, waking Lilla from her less than restful sleep well before the night was over. She'd fallen into bed without so much as another glance from _Four_ almost as soon as he'd let them go for the night. She hadn't even bothered with going to find something to eat.

Something poked her shoulder. "Come on, little Mouse, or I am going to dump you off your cot." She recognized that voice.

"Let me sleep, Uriah."

"Hey now, look at that; I got a whole sentence, with more than one word!" he crowed on a whisper, poking her again and dodging her sleepy slap at his hand. "Come on now, it's not even midnight. Your fellow transfers are all asleep, but I wanted to talk to you. Get up. You can sleep more in a bit." He pulled insistently at her still grey-clad wrist, tugging her from the bed. Lilla gave in with little fight, restless from being unused to sharing a sleeping space with so many people anyway. Earlier in the night, she'd heard Al, the big Candor Transfer, sobbing. She had considered comforting him, but didn't want to cause more embarrassment by doing so in front of the others. And they were all so fidgety. Some snored, some talked in their sleep. Would there ever be any peace?

She followed him from the Transfer quarters in customary silence, until they were well away from the risk of waking one of the others.

"Where are we going?" she questioned, still keeping her voice soft. Uriah wondered if she even knew how to raise it more than the edge of a whisper. He stopped and turned, facing his blank-faced companion with an assessing look. He crossed his arms over his broad chest, a seemingly immovable force.

"What's wrong, Mouse?" It was the first time the nickname had registered with the former Abnegation, and she wasn't sure she liked it, but she didn't hate it either.

"What do you mean?"

Uriah sighed and decided to let it go, "Walk and talk, Transfer. I'm taking you to get something other than those awful grey clothes. Don't your lot miss having color?" The Dauntless wore all black most of the time, sure, but it was broken with bright hair colors, tattoos, and interesting jewelry. Abnegation had nothing but the solid swath of greys.

"I suppose I never really thought about it," she admitted.

"Plain clothes, plain food, plain life with no outward affection. It must be so boring!"

"I guess that's why people transfer out. They get bored," Lilla agreed. It wasn't a lie. She suspected that was one of Tris' main reasons for leaving the Abnegation compound. Boredom had never been something much on her mind before, though she suspected that it may have been had she had a more peaceful existence.

"Oh, speaking of that," Uriah said, reaching in his pocket as he remembered something, "The other girl said it was the food." He handed her a piece of cake with a grin. "You didn't come to dinner, so I grabbed this. Bet you've never had anything like it before!"

Lilla looked down at the small pastry in her hand. It was a dark, rich brown, with some sort of creamy substance on top. Sniffing it, she recognized the smell of something sugary.

"What is it?" she questioned, meeting her companion's eyes briefly.

"Cake. It's a desert."

"Oh."

"Try it, I think you'll like it." Hesitantly, as if afraid the treat would bite her back, she took a small nibble. Uriah watched as her eyes widened, flying to his, and she took a bigger bite. "It's chocolate," he informed her.

"Thank you."

It was the second time she was thanking him for something he thought shouldn't have warranted so much stark gratitude. He thought someone from a Faction who was supposed to be "selfless" would be used to others doing nice things, but it didn't seem that way.

"That other girl from Abnegation, the first jumper," he started.

"Tris," Lilla supplied.

"Yeah, her. She said you just wanted to go to bed." It was more a question than a statement.

"I was tired."

"Mhmm, you said that before, but weren't you hungry?"

Lilla regarded the Dauntless-born boy with something akin to suspicious curiosity. What was he getting at? Where was he going with this?

"No."

Uriah sighed. He wasn't sure what to make of this mousey little girl. She showed no fear, no emotions at all really, but hid from the other Initiates. She stood up to Eric - the cruelest leader the Dauntless had - without hesitation, but was reduced to a pale, almost shaking girl by Four - one of the kindest - in a single short conversation. Zeke, his older brother, was friends with Four, and had been since they were new Initiates themselves. For all his grouching, Uriah knew that the young instructor did his best to make sure every Initiate did as well as possible, often even going out of his way to help. In the two years the older boy had been in Dauntless, Uriah had never seen him be needlessly cruel to anyone, even Eric.

"Alright, Mouse, c'mon," he sighed again, grabbing her wrist and pulling her on toward the shops. Nothing ever closed down in this place. With patrol schedules going 24 hrs, so did the services available in the Pit. And Lilla desperately needed something else to wear. All her fellow Transfers had gotten themselves some appropriate clothing, and if she showed up in her grey shift to training the next day, it would be her head on a platter with both Four and Eric.

"Why?" Lilla asked suddenly between little bites of cake as she trailed Uriah through the Pit.

"Why what?"

"Why are you being so nice?"

"Would you rather I called you Stiff and let you get in trouble when you show up in the wrong colors tomorrow?"

"No," she admitted, as much to herself as to Uriah. "But it would make more sense if you did."

"What, you think because Four reduced you to a crying little girl, that we are all that rough around the edges?" he half-teased, but his voice was gentle, and he regretted even teasing about it at all when she briefly flinched at the reminder. He didn't regret getting her around to the question he really wanted to ask though. "What did he say to you anyway?"

Lilla stared after him in silence for a long minute. They were not moving quickly, but she suddenly wished they were. It would be a distraction at least. How could she answer that? He hadn't said _anything_ really, had he? He'd asked her name and sent her off, just another Stiff who didn't belong. And that was the rub. She was just another Stiff. But then... so was he. And he'd struck her with his lack of acknowledgement worse than Marcus ever had with his belt. She had a sudden desire to confide in someone, anyone really, and here was a willing ear. But could she do it? She didn't remember having an honest conversation since Tobias left, not with anyone, and she wasn't sure she even remembered how.

"Is there somewhere we can go, somewhere no one else will be?" she asked on a whim, coming to the sudden determination to separate herself as wholly as possible from Abnegation, from Marcus, and – since it seemed to be his wish – even from Tobias. From _Four_.

"Sure." If Uriah was surprised by the sudden turn, he didn't say anything. It wasn't as if pressing her about it would get any further answers, so he'd wait until she was ready and then hear what she had to say. He led her up a back stairway, onto a little-known ledge over the pit. They could get her something to wear after he got his answers.

So, sitting down with legs over the ledge, he waited.

"I have a brother," Lilla blurted suddenly, earning a wide-eyed look from her new friend.

"Older or younger?" he asked.

"Older. He… he transferred out of Abnegation two years ago. I haven't heard from him since. I couldn't even go to the Choosing ceremony that year. I was… unwell."

"Oh, shit. That sucks, Mouse. Do you know where he is?"

"Yes…"

"And?"

What did this have to do with Four? Was he friends with her brother or something? Or did he know something the rest didn't?

"Here. He's Dauntless. I followed him here, even though he told me not to when he left. I'm here because my brother left me and came here, and for no other reason."

"So, your test wasn't Dauntless then?!" he asked, surprised. Technically, they weren't supposed to talk about their results, but was rare that someone chose something other than what the test told them to.

"No, it was Abnegation."

"I wouldn't share that information with just anyone if I was you," he warned. It was the sort of thing that could make her life more difficult, if the other Initiates knew she hadn't tested in.

"Are you planning on doing something with it?" Lilla questioned tonelessly. She didn't seem to care much what he did, but he wondered if that was an act. Almost everything about this girl seemed like it might be just that, an act.

"No," Uriah replied. "So who's your brother?" She hesitated, suddenly wary. When the urge to share – to confide in the kind boy who seemed to want to help her – had struck, it had seemed like a good idea; or, at least, not a bad one. But was she just making things more difficult on herself? If she couldn't count on her own brother, why should she trust this Dauntless-born boy with too many smiles and almost no concept of personal space? But she'd come too far now to stop. He'd only push if she didn't tell him now, and that could make things worse. Exposing her relationship with her brother was one thing. Risking the exposure of their biggest weakness… that was something else entirely, and not something she was willing to do.

"His name was once Tobias," she hedged.

"Holy shit!" Uriah yelped, facing his friend and turning her with a hand on her shoulder. "_Four_ is your brother!?" Lilla nodded shortly, surprised.

"How do you know his real name if he doesn't use it anymore?" she couldn't help but ask.

"He's my older brother's best friend," he replied softly, not missing the edge of wariness in her tone, "I've known him since shortly after he got here."

No wonder she was upset. Her brother left her alone in a colorless, dreary life that she didn't belong in, and then treated her worse than a stranger when they finally saw each other after two years. If his brother pulled crap like that, he'd probably punch him in the face, but then again… he wasn't born Abnegation. And he wasn't as small as this girl either. Dauntless or not, punching someone twice your size without being sure you could beat them in a fight was stupid. Especially someone that would know you as well as a brother.

"You want me to ask Zeke what's up with him?" Uriah offered a bit hesitantly. He wasn't really sure what the correct response was here.

"No," Lilla rushed to assure him, "No, if he doesn't want me here… Well, it's too late now, and I won't go Factionless just because he isn't pleased to see me, but I won't bug him either. I have plenty to worry about without trying to get my brother to be less of a jerk." She gave the tall boy a once over. "You know… I have never had a friend before. Thank you… for listening." The words were said softly, not only in volume, but in tone. She sounded a little unsure of her admission, as if she wasn't supposed to say it. Uriah just smiled and bumped her shoulder with his own.

"Well, as your friend, I have to tell you," he said seriously, before cracking into a chuckle, "your clothes are terrible, and if you don't burn them once you have something new, I will!" This drew a half-smile from Lilla, and Uriah counted it as a victory. "Come on, Mouse," he continued, pulling himself to his feet and holding a hand out for her. "Let's get you something more… Dauntless."

* * *

Once back in her cot for the night, Lilla felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She'd gained a friend, as well as driving one more spike through her former life. Uriah had tried to talk her into getting something a little more daring to wear, something that would show a little skin. He even told her that Christina had convinced Tris to get a shorter, slim fitting dress. But nothing would sway the modest Abnegation girl to his arguments, and in the end she'd picked out several pairs of long pants and thin black turtlenecks with long sleeves. The fabric could breathe, which would keep her cool, and she had to cover her skin. She had no desire to face the inevitable questions, the attacks that would come if her wounds were exposed. It didn't take much to figure out that in this brutal competition, there was no quarter given. From anyone.

With new clothes in hand, Uriah escorted her back to the Transfer dorm and left her to grab a few hours rest before they had to be up for training in the morning. His parting shot was an order to show up to breakfast, on threat of being carried there over his shoulder if she didn't. With the barest hint of a smile and a wave, she watched him leave and climbed into bed.

* * *

Uriah left the Transfer where she needed to be, glad he'd sought her out. He couldn't believe what he'd learned, and speaking with Zeke at the first opportunity was top on his to-do list. He rejoined the other Dauntless-born and let himself drift off to sleep.

The next morning, the new pair of friends met up at 7:00 in the mess hall, as promised. Uriah was glad he wouldn't have to haul Lilla there over his shoulder, even if it would have been funny. He piled her plate with the best foods for long-lasting energy, and led her to an empty table. Before coming to the mess, the former Abnegation had showered, braided her long, curly hair around her head, and changed into the Dauntless blacks they'd picked out the night before. Changing in the dorm showers was a nerve-wracking experience. She'd worried the entire time that someone would come in at the wrong moment, and see her scars and lash marks that painted her skin so completely.

Her back was one giant bruise, but at least the lashing that had drawn blood two days ago was no longer leaking red fluid to give it away. There were even slight scabs forming over some of the mildest lacerations already.

"So Mouse," Uriah interrupted whatever deep thoughts she seemed to be processing, "you ready for training?" Lilla nodded once, before focusing on her food. "Not a morning person, huh?"

"You say that like you assume she has a personality," a new voice interjected, drawing the pair's attention. Peter stood, Molly and Drew behind him, glaring down at the Abnegation transfer with a sneer. "Stiffs don't know how to interact with _people_, Dauntless," he continued, "That's why she's so quiet. Too stupid to talk about anything other than their lies of giving to the '_poor'_, the lot of them."

Uriah stood, temper flaring immediately in defense of his friend, but a small hand on his wrist and a minute shake of Lilla's head had him sitting back down. Peter fumed at having the reaction tempered by the little Stiff.

* * *

From up above, another pair of eyes watched the interaction curiously. Was she really so stupid as to let the Candor boy torment her already? The other Abnegation wasn't taking flak from anyone, so why was this one? Eric considered the girl minutely through breakfast. Peter, coward that he was, stormed off as soon as he saw he wasn't going to get a rise from the Stiff, leaving her and the Dauntless-born boy in peace. The little girl reminded him of someone, he was sure of it, but who that was…

"Whatcha starin' at Eric?" a young woman asked, joining him leaning against the railing.

"Just this year's batch of children," he sneered.

"That girl with Zeke's kid brother, who is she?" Sinade, the woman beside him, inquired. She was one of the few who dared talk to him much, but even she had her limit.

"Don't know her name, but she's the first Stiff transfer of the year. The other one came after."

He watched as the girl slowly but surely began to speak to those around her, with Uriah's encouragement, as the other newbies filtered in around them. She was soon surrounded, and while she didn't seem to speak much, it was more than he'd seen from her yet. He desperately wanted to know why the chit seemed so damn familiar though! Damn his Erudite curiosity!

"I can't believe we got two this year. That's unheard of," the woman replied. With a smirk and a, "good luck training that lot!" she was gone, leaving Eric alone again.

* * *

"You ready Eric?" Four asked at the end of breakfast when they both stood over the training room. They didn't like each other, but they were assigned to the new Transfers' training together both years since their own Initiate class.

By 8:00 all the Transfers were present, some more ready than others. Four went through the motions of explaining how to shoot while Eric supervised. Both would wander around, instructing, once the trainees started practicing.

Lilla found herself a little less sure without Uriah by her side, and realized immediately that she would have to get over that. She couldn't afford to rely on anyone but herself, no matter how nice they were. She was positioned at a target between Al and Christina, and the feeling of a gun in her hand, she decided, was one of pure power. Even Marcus in all his raging wouldn't try to hurt her if she had a gun trained on him.

She watched a couple of people shoot once, before trying herself, and braced herself for the kickback she could see affecting the others. Breathing in, she readied herself, aimed the gun and slowly squeezed the trigger. Three… two… BANG! As she let the breath go, she squeezed the trigger, and to her shock, the bullet hit her target. Granted, it was too far right of the center to be considered a good shot, but she was still glad it had connected!

"Pathetic, Initiate," a growl of a voice said behind her, and she whirled to face the trainer she'd stood up to the day before; Eric, she remembered. "A shot like that might wing your opponent, who would then be free to shoot you _right here_." The words 'right here' were accompanied by two hard, bruising pokes to her chest, right over her heart. _Bully_, Lilla thought angrily. But she knew how to handle bullies.

Eric felt his irritation rise as she didn't step back under the poke. There was no cowering from this girl, even under his best glare. Did she have a death wish, or something?

"Answer me, girl," he spat.

"What do you want me to say, _sir_?" Lilla asked, her tone on the borderline of absolute innocence. There was nothing reasonably objectionable in her tone, despite the mildly mocking lilt on the term of respect, "I'm sure I will get better once I've shot a gun more than once in my life." Eric leaned down over her menacingly, invading her personal space worse than anyone else had yet.

"You watch yourself, little Stiff," he warned on a hiss of a whisper right in her ear, "My bad side is not a place anyone wants to be. I would hate to see you get _too_ hurt before you get the chance to wash out." With another cruel sneer, he moved on, leaving Lilla to quickly catch her breath and continue on with the exercise. She suspected that she'd just made a lifetime enemy, and the apathy that had brought her through the first day was beginning to fade, making her a bit nervous about what Eric would do to her in the coming weeks. He was dangerous.

"Hey, Lilla!" Tris' excited voice brought her back to the gun range, "You hit the target, that's great!"

"Yeah," she agreed, "you too."

The rest of the morning continued on in much the same vein. Lilla improved with a few hours practice, but her shots were still going far too wide of the center. Still, she left the training room with her friends to go to lunch with a sense of satisfaction. They would have an hour and a half to eat and rest up for the afternoon activities. Lessons in hand to hand combat.

"Hey, Mouse! Guys," Uriah greeted happily, joining Lilla and the other Transfers with his indomitable personality shining through. The already stiffening muscles plaguing their group didn't seem to bother him; he was used to shooting practice. He just slid into the bench between Lilla and Tris, and stuck an extra piece of cake on Lilla's plate. She offered him a smile, but little more.

"So, I heard you talked back to Eric… again," he said after a long minute of silence reigned.

"That's right," Al snorted, "You gave him lip at the Pit entrance yesterday too. Is there something wrong with your brain?"

"Yeah, and I thought our girl Tris had a death wish, picking at Four. Eric is way, way scarier!" Christina chimed in with a bright giggle. It was only the first day of training, but they all knew better than to mess with either of their prickly instructors. There was no way of telling when those prickly spines would become far more prickly daggers.

"I don't have a death wish," Tris protested, "but he's just so… infuriating! And I don't think Four would actually hurt any of us." Uriah sneaked a glance at Lilla, worried for her, but she didn't give anything away on her face as they unknowingly discussed her brother. "Eric though… he's a nasty piece of work," Tris continued, "Maybe you should be careful with him Lil." Her easy, friendly use of a nickname startled Lilla a bit.

"She hasn't actually done anything he can really get pissed about," Will laughed from his place across from Christina.

"Like that matters," Al said, shaking his head.

"Hey, eat up Mouse," Uriah whispered in Lilla's ear as the others switched gears in their conversation. "Then you can come meet my goofy brother." He gave her a grin. "Just promise you won't listen to a word that comes out of his mouth."

"Alright. I'm finished anyway," Lilla agreed, brushing off her hands. She could get used to this food. It was tasty in a way no Abnegation meal ever could be, and there seemed to always be plenty. But after years of being deprived of adequate nutrition, she couldn't bring herself to eat as much at once as the others could.

"Nope," Uriah refused, "Finish your lunch. Trust me, you'll need the energy later!" She complied with an inward roll of her eyes, and then both said their goodbyes to the rest of the table. The others asked where the pair was going, but Uriah just shrugged and said that they would be harassing his brother, and that he'd deliver Lilla back to them in time to have them all make it back to the training room on time.

"So how'd training go?" he asked as he led his friend up a small set of stairs.

"It was alright. I hit the target at least."

"And working with Fo... erm… Tobias?"

"Just call him Four," she corrected, shaking her head. "I don't know who that guy is, but he's not Tobias, not anymore. I don't think he has been in a long time. And there isn't anything to talk about." She shrugged. "Eric started berating me on my first shot, I stood up to him, and both instructors left me alone for the rest of the lesson for the most part."

"I heard he threatened you."

"He did."

"Are you not afraid of him, Lilla? Because you should be. He's a scary dude. The only person who doesn't let him run all over them here is Four, and I think that's only because he doesn't rise to the bait when Eric starts on his crap, more than anything else. He could hurt you." Lilla was a little surprised to hear her name come from Uriah, rather than some epithet she wasn't even sure she liked.

"A lot of things could hurt me," she said after a minute, "That doesn't mean I am going to let any of them do it."

"I think I need to know if my new best friend has a death wish, Mouse," Uriah chuckled, but there was a strained edge to it. Lilla just elbowed him gently and asked how much longer until they found Zeke's apartment.

It wasn't far, and in a moment they were knocking on the black door of his brother's place. It was jerked open by a groggy man who looked a lot like Uriah, if a bit older. If she didn't know better, she would have guessed they were twins rather than two years apart.

"Go away, little brother, and take your girl with you," he said without sparing a glance in Lilla's direction. She didn't take offence; he wasn't really awake enough to be pleasant, and if he was Uriah's brother, surely he couldn't be all bad anyway, rude or not.

"Now now," Uriah chided with a grin, "You would turn your younger brother away on the lunch break of his first day as an Initiate? Really Zeke?"

"Fine," Zeke sighed, resigned, "get in here." His eyes flicked to Lilla. "You too, Transfer."

"I call her Mouse," the younger brother corrected, "but her name's Lilla. If I hear you call her Stiff or anything else like it, I swear I'll grind you into the mat the next time we spar."

"I don't care where she came from, and you know it." Zeke was beginning to wake up and wonder just who his brother had brought to his apartment. It was odd to see the younger man away from the other Dauntless-born, but this girl was certainly a Transfer. The only Dauntless thing about her was her black clothes, and even they were far more modest that any Dauntless-raised woman would pick.

"Hi Lilla," he greeted, "I'll leave the dumbass nicknames to my brother. I'm Zeke, the older, better version of your friend here." The sense of humor and good-natured teasing where the same, and Lilla wondered again if the two weren't twins.

Zeke and Uriah chatted for the remainder of the lunch break, with Lilla sitting quietly on a chair. With each passing moment, the older brother became more and more curious. She was familiar, but he couldn't quite place her, and she wasn't the type of person his brother would normally gravitate towards. Marlene and Lynn, Uriah's childhood friends, were both as Dauntless as they come, and had always been just as outgoing (and outrageous) as he was. This girl was unnaturally quiet. The way she walked, her tone, even her posture was unassuming and unnoticeable. Definitely not his brother's normal choice in friends.

Lilla, for her minimal part in the conversation, was remarkably comfortable with these two. They didn't press her to join, but let her say what came to mind. She liked her fellow Transfers well enough, but as a group they were a little overwhelming to a girl who'd never had a friend in her life. She was a little sorry as the end of lunch crept up on them, and Uriah walked her back to her fellow Transfers.

"He's nice," she said as they walked leisurely back to the mess hall to rejoin the other Initiates.

"He's a good brother. Our parents died when we were young. We were looked after by other family, but it's always pretty much been me and Zeke against the world."

"Why do I get the feeling that a lot of Dauntless die young?" she asked gently. Uriah shot her a grin.

"We do, Transfer," he agreed dryly, "But you gotta admit, you've lived more since your crazy self decided to join us, than you ever did in your old life."

"True." Truer than he even knew.

"Hey Uriah!" Christina's voice called teasingly as he and Lilla rejoined them, "You can't always steal our friend away like that!"

"I had a choice," Lilla chuckled a bit.

"Yeah maybe, but if you didn't, he'd just pick you up and carry you off anyway," Tris joked.

"Come on guys," Will interjected, tweaking Christina's hair, "If we're late, Eric just might skin us and hang our bodies up as an example. Or a gun target."

"Eww," the Candor girl groaned, pulling away from him and punching him in the arm. "Will… I'm going to have that disgusting image in my head for the rest of the day now!"

"Later," Uriah said with a wave, watching Lilla blend seamlessly back into the background of her group of friends. She really was good at remaining unseen, and he thought it was more a 'Lilla' thing than an Abnegation thing. The other Abnegation girl, Tris… she was noticeable, even when she didn't want to be.

He always wondered what reasons the Transfers had for transferring. Every year, there were a few in each Faction who didn't quite fit, a few who didn't know why, but always felt different. Even he had experienced it to some small extent. He thought like an Erudite, his brother told him, and had the kindness (if definitely not the passivity) of the Amity. Lilla had told him that her test said Abnegation, but he just didn't see it. The way she stood up to Eric's bullying, while a little foolish, was purely Dauntless. But her observation of the people around her, a trait he'd noticed only just now, was more Erudite. He had to wonder if any of them really fit as neatly as they were supposed to in the roles given to them.

* * *

The Transfer Initiates watched as Four took them through the hand-to-hand workout in rapt silence. He demonstrated with Eric, the pair moving in unified, if rather contemptuous, synchronization. Clearly, no matter how much they disliked one another, they trained together even though they were no longer Initiates in the same year.

Lilla watched her brother carefully. His movements were precise and quick, where Eric's sought to deal damage with the most power. Neither man was aiming to actually hurt the other, though she didn't think either would care if pain was the consequence of their spar. Once they'd gone through the basics of the punches, blocks, and kicks they were learning, the pair broke apart and sent the trainees off to practice on punching bags.

As Lilla faced off with the bag, she wondered if she would even be able to make it budge. It weighed more than she did!

"Don't just stand there, Initiate," Eric snarled, honing in on her hesitance. "Hit the damn thing, or you can practice with _me_." There was a challenge in his voice, and maybe a bit of a threat, and Lilla was not stupid enough to rise to it again. Two near-death brushes with one man was more than enough for two days.

She took her position, her stance a little off as she tried to mimic her brother's movements from his earlier demonstration. The position she was required to hold her arms in pulled at her healing back painfully, but she pushed it aside and threw a punch. Her fist crashed into the bag with a small _thunk_, but as expected, it didn't move.

"You're weak, Initiate," Eric sneered, watching her try again and again. The punches didn't improve, and he almost decided to leave it be. But Four's eyes on him stalled that thought. He'd get the little Stiff to do it right, if he had to throw punches of his own, just to prove to the other young man that he could. With a snarl, he grabbed Lilla by the shoulder and yanked her back away from the practice bag. He didn't miss the slight gasp as he pulled her shoulder, but didn't think much of it either. "Don't tell me you're so sore from a little shooting practice that you can't even throw a punch, girl."

Lilla said nothing, head down. Better to keep quiet than open her mouth and make it worse. He would get bored with her eventually.

"I asked you a question, Initiate!" he roared, drawing momentary attention. None of the other trainees were stupid enough to stop what they were doing completely, but he could see the struggle on his rival's face. Four wanted to intervene, and Eric wanted to know why.

"I am not too sore to throw a punch, Eric," she replied in a monotone, staring at a point in the middle of his forehead. The piercings and tattoos made him look all the more menacing, but she still couldn't find it in herself to fear him. On an instinctual level, maybe, in the same way she feared her father, who could lash out at any minute. But when she thought about it… no, she wasn't frightened of him.

"Then prove it, girl," he snapped, falling into a defensive stance. "Try and hit me."

"That's not fair," someone whispered. "He could break her with his pinky finger."

Other doubts were voiced as Lilla stared straight at her challenger. With a sigh, she took her own defensive posture, arms up, elbows ahead, weight balanced on both feet, with a bit more on the back one. This was not going to end well, and she knew it.

Lilla's first punch was blocked with a stinging slap to her wrist, forceful enough to knock her off balance, leaving a red mark behind. The next was quicker, as she got more comfortable with striking, but still very easily blocked.

"Again," Eric barked. He was grudgingly impressed with the little girl in front of him. She still didn't back down, even when he had a legitimate way to hurt her and make it look accidental.

For a few minutes, Lilla threw punch after punch at Eric's arms, rather than the bag as everyone else was doing. With each jab, she felt the barely closed lacerations pull across her shoulders, until finally one pulled open and she felt the warm trickle of blood down her back. She was glad her loose black shirt would conceal it until she could clean herself up.

Eric's eyes hadn't left the former Abnegation as she tried so hard to land a blow. He knew she wouldn't be able to do it – they all did – but in the privacy of his own mind, he could give her credit for determination. Because he was scrutinizing her so closely, he saw the wince and subtle hunch after less than five minutes of using him in place of the punching bag. What caused it? Despite his earlier taunt, he knew she wasn't that sore from the gun practice.

"Alright," he snapped, grabbing the next fist that came his way in his own much larger one. "Go back to the bag, and work on kicks. Your punches had best get better soon, or I am going to enjoy watching you get flattened."

* * *

It took all of Four's considerable willpower not to step in every time Eric picked on Lilla. First in the gun range, and now with this exercise too, he seemed to have something against the young transfer. If Four didn't know better, he'd think the larger man knew of their relationship and was getting back at him by harassing his sister. But it was impossible. He'd been careful not to tell anyone of their connection, and had gone as far as to avoid her completely. He was proud of his little sister though. There were none of the flying rages she would go into to protect him as children. She'd taken her strength and stubbornness born of harsh years, and honed it to something even more useful while he was gone. He wondered again if he'd not broken something in his sister when he left her alone for Dauntless, and the guilt that had plagued him – rightfully so, he thought – welled up once more. She'd always been a quiet girl, except in defense of her brother, but from all observations she'd become almost mute in the past two years. She spoke only when absolutely necessary, and spent the time she was around the other Initiates sitting as small as possible in a corner and making herself unnoticeable. Zeke's kid brother seemed to pull her out a bit, and that was good, but he was worried about her.

Like Eric, his attention remained firmly on Lilla, so he too noticed her posture change. Unlike the other man, he knew that posture. She was protecting her body after a beating from their father. He'd seen and felt that feeling himself far too many times to miss it. What the hell was she thinking, not telling anyone she was injured?! _Still stupidly stubborn sometimes, apparently_, he thought, fuming. But he wasn't sure what to do about it. He had two options. Draw everyone's attention to Lily and possibly their connection by pulling her from training himself, or… trust his nemesis to take her to the infirmary. As the trainees continued to punch and kick away at the bag, he knew he had to come to a decision.

With a single gesture, he and Eric met in the middle of the floor to hold a hushed conversation.

"The Stiff's injured," he said quietly, keeping his grey eyes roaming, rather than allowing them to rest on his sister as he wanted to.

"Which one?" Eric snorted derisively, "We've got two this year." There was a tinge of disgust in his tone.

"Don't be stupid, you saw it too," Four snapped.

"Yeah, yeah," Eric griped. "What do you want me to do about it Four? We're not babysitters. If she can't train she should have said so."

"Yes, because we give them that option," the shorter man snapped with a roll of his eyes.

"Fine. If she loses later because she missed practice, you get to scrape her off the floor."

"Fair enough."

With that settled, Four returned to overseeing the practice. He hated Eric, but he also knew that the other man wasn't nearly as cold or cruel as he acted. He was an arrogant SOB with a serious attitude problem, but he wasn't out to kill off their Initiates just yet. He suspected it was why the leaders paired them together on training each year. Good Dauntless, bad Dauntless. Or something like that.

Lilla continued to alternate kicking and punching the bag in front of her along with the others, although she didn't much feel like she was accomplishing anything. Her back, she suspected, still bled sluggishly, but there was nothing to be done for it. She even fell into the routine of repeating the moves they'd learned, finding it almost mind-numbing. Until she felt the rough hand on the back of her neck, pulling her once again away from her practice bag. _Not again_, she wanted to groan.

"With me, Initiate," Eric growled, tugging her away from the practice area with little care as she stumbled along beside him.


	3. Chapter 3

**An: **Well, chapter three is up. As promised, more of Four's thoughts and motives. It was pointed out to me that the points of view could be a little confusing, and at first I wasn't quite sure why. I had some page breaks and transitions, but I didn't want to write "so-and-so's POV" to label the switching characters. Then, I decided to check out how it looked online and I realized my mistake. It has been so long since I have used fanfiction that I completely forgot how sometimes formatting can be lost in posting. Rather irritating, but an easy fix, so now there are proper page breaks for different points of view. Thank you to all reviewers, and especially those of you (that'd be you, **Watching-Skies**) who made me take a second look! I am very, very grateful for the wonderful feedback I've been getting on this story! And I hope you all continue to enjoy.

**Chapter Three: Brother**

Lilla was utterly confused. What did he want this time? He wasn't berating her in front of the others, which was possibly even more worrying than the humiliation of his taunting. She felt his large, warm, calloused hand on the back of her neck like a searing brand, guiding her forcefully along beside him until they were two halls away from the training pit. There, he released her suddenly and stood back, glaring down at her over his straight nose with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You going to tell me what the hell is wrong with you, Stiff," Eric demanded, "or are you going to make me drag you all the way to the infirmary?"

"What?" Lilla replied, startled by the question. It was certainly not what she was expecting to hear. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb, girl. I don't care if you are injured, but your other instructor apparently does, and I don't want to listen to his whining. So I will drag you up there if I have to. Or you can tell me what stupid stunt you pulled, and I _might_ let you get back to training. Believe me, weakling, you need it."

"I don't need the infirmary," Lilla told him quietly and Eric quickly became irritated with her refusal. What was she trying to prove anyway? That she was brave enough to deal with whatever it was herself? That was just stupid at this point. And he didn't have the time or patience for stupidity.

"Alright then," he sneered, "Let me see."

"I… Excuse me?!"

"If you aren't hiding an injury Stiff, show me," he challenged, gesturing to her concealing top, his dark, cold eyes not leaving hers. Lilla stared back in surprise, unsure how to handle this. He clearly didn't care, so why was he doing this? Looking for a weak spot to exploit? Curiosity? Pure, unadulterated cruelty? She wasn't sure she even wanted to know what his motives were. There were some things that it was more unsettling to know.

"N-no… No, I won't," she stated defiantly, crossing her own arms and ignoring the slight stammer in her voice. She knew she didn't cut nearly as impressive a figure in the pose as he did, but she imagined it was her father she was standing up to, rather than the intimidating leader in front of her, and it neatly stiffened her spine. "I don't have anything to hide, but I don't have anything to prove either. I just want to get back to work." Eric took a single step forward, looming over her. His hulking form was more frightening than it had any right to be, and Lilla had to bite back a small gasp.

"You want to repeat that, _Initiate_?" His voice was nothing but a low growl, almost animalistic, and very angry.

"You heard me just fine." She had to wonder as the reckless words left her mouth what idiotic spirit had possessed her tongue. She was alone in a side hallway with, arguably, the most dangerous man in Dauntless. And she was defying him. For a third time.

Eric reached out and grabbed the little chit by the neck, pressing one large thumb over her windpipe just enough to restrict her breathing a bit. He felt her pulse speed up under his hand, and tugged her closer, reveling in the feeling of power as she stumbled under his harsh grip.

"I've told you before, Stiff," he hissed, pressing just a hair harder with each following word, "Do. Not. Test. Me." He released her with a push and Lilla felt herself propelled back into the wall. She let out a hiss as she collided with the rough stone. "Get back to the Pit. You'll train for two hours longer than everyone else, to make up for your useless interruption now," Eric ordered.

With a stiff, almost shaky tilt of her head, Lilla turned and fled back the way they'd come. There was no use in arguing. She'd do the two hours extra, and then put this behind her. She couldn't help but rub her neck lightly as she jogged back. With an irritated huff, the instructor followed. By the time he stalked back in, glaring, the defiant chit was back at her punching bag as if nothing had happened. Four approached him almost immediately.

"Well?" he demanded shortly.

"Your little idiot refused. You deal with her," Eric growled, leaving Four to make of that what he would. With a small, frustrated sigh, Lilla's brother went back to watching her surreptitiously as he trained the others. She, like the other Abnegation girl, had almost no muscle tone, and it showed when she struck the bag.

* * *

The rest of the training session was fairly uneventful, although everyone was well aware that the larger of their instructors was in an even fouler mood than normal. He barked and slapped the trainees' heads when they didn't execute a move to perfection. He taunted, and mocked, and berated the students into submission, making everyone even more wary of his wrath. The one person he ignored completely was Lilla. He was sorely tempted to beat her into the ground at the moment, and that wouldn't get him anywhere. He just had to be patient, he knew, and figure out what he could use to break her completely. Once he had that, he would snap the Stiff like a twig.

Four, for his part, focused on curbing his unwilling partner's cruelty and making sure the Initiates actually learned something other than how to duck and cower. It wasn't an easy task. Once they'd been put through their paces, the exhausted Initiates filed out of the pit to shower, change, and get some food. They had free time in the evening. Lilla, however, didn't follow.

"Get out of here, Lilla," Four called across the room. She answered with a shake of her head and went back to her bag. "Now, _Initiate_!" he barked at her next. He just wanted his stubborn little sister to get out of here, get herself fixed up, and stop causing trouble! He was beginning to think she had absolutely no sense of self-preservation. Baiting Eric, of all people, so continuously. He'd heard about her little stunt on the roof at the Pit jump, and then later talking back to him again. Not once, but multiple times. What the hell was wrong with her?

"I can't," Lilla said between strikes. "I have two hours extra."

"Explain."

"Eric's orders, for the earlier interruption. Thank you for that, by the way. I know he didn't pull me out on his own." And now she was going to get snippy with the other instructor? Brother or not, she had to stop before she got herself in real trouble.

"Knock it off, Lily," he snapped tiredly, using her nickname without even meaning to. "You're gonna get yourself hurt if you keep up this stupid act. Wise up, shut up, and try to survive Initiation." He took a deep breath, and said on a sigh, "You never should have come here." Without another word, he left her to her extra practice. He couldn't stand there and watch her work herself into the dirt.

Leaving his sister in the Pit, he went straight for his friend's apartment. Zeke answered the door quickly, giving Four a dry look.

"Zeke," he greeted, moving past his friend into the cool, dark room.

"Four," his friend returned. He could see something was wrong with the other man, and he suspected it had something to do with at least one of the Abnegation transfers. His brother and he had had a conversation shortly before Four came knocking.

* * *

_ "So, Uriah," he'd asked, "Is that girl who I think she is?" It hadn't registered while she was still sitting in his apartment with him and his brother, but once given a few minutes to think about it, he knew exactly where he'd seen those eyes. The cool grey tone was lighter, but the shape... the look... They were the same as his best friend's eyes. There was almost nothing else about the two that looked alike, but those eyes. They were nearly identical._

_ "If you're thinking she's your friend's little sister," Uriah replied a bit sharply, "then yeah, she's who you think she is. No one else knows though, so keep it shut."_

_ "And what's wrong with her?"_

_ "What do you mean?" Uriah wasn't a fool. He'd noticed the same quirks about Lilla as his brother had, but he wasn't at all sure what they added up to._

_ "She's awful quiet, man. I would say timid, but everyone's heard of the Abnegation transfer who pokes at the not-so-sleeping bear in its den. One Abnegation the first jumper, and the other out to motivate Eric to murder in the first week. Not that that would be hard to do. What an interesting year you've got there."_

_ "Nah, she's not timid. She's scary quiet most of the time, sure, but I think she's stronger than she looks too. What I want to know, is what's wrong with her idiot brother?"_

_ "Four didn't want his sister to follow him, Uriah. It's complicated," Zeke had explained seriously, shaking his head._

_ "Nothing's so complicated that you abandon family like that!" his younger brother spat, temper flaring. His brother wasn't surprised, really. He cared about Lilla, and Uriah was protective of those he cared for. "If you treated me the way he's treating her, I'd pound you stupid."_

_ "You'd try," the older brother snorted, before sobering. "Look man, I don't know what's going on in his head, or hers for that matter, but I'll talk to him. Alright?"_

_ "If you don't, I will. It hurts her when he ignores her like that, and I don't let my friends get hurt, even by other friends."_

_ "Sure, bro," Zeke had agreed before shooing the younger man from the room to get a shower and something to eat._

* * *

And now, before he'd even had much of a chance to process that conversation, here was his best friend in front of him.

"Problem?" Zeke asked, moving a pile of clothes off a chair for Tobias to sit.

"Yeah, I need a favor, man."

"Alright, shoot."

Four sat, head in his hands for a minute. Quiet, utterly still like his sister. Zeke gave him the time to collect his thoughts, but he wouldn't let him stew in it for too long.

"My sister's here," the other man finally said.

"I know. I met her earlier. She's friends with my kid brother."

"Yeah, I'd noticed that." Four paused thoughtfully; he wasn't sure just what to ask for. To keep an eye on his sister where he couldn't? To drag her butt to the infirmary, kicking and screaming if necessary, or get his younger brother to do it? Or nothing? Should he step back, let Lily handle herself? Could he bring himself to do that? He didn't think he could, not and still face her every day. He knew why she was moving the way she was in training. Marcus had done the same thing to him the day before the Choosing; a thrashing to remind him to make the 'right' choice. A harsh one, even by their standards.

"She's hurt, Zeke," he sighed, "and I can't do a damn thing about it. I tried to get Eric to take her to the infirmary, so that someone would figure it out. I thought if anyone could pick up on it, it would be him. I may hate the guy, but he was Erudite-born. She refused, and pissed him off more. So now she's got two hours extra practice today, and she's made herself a bright, glaring target for him." His cool eyes met Zeke's warm, sympathetic brown ones. "What do I do man?"

"How bad is it, do you think?" his friend wanted to know.

"Bad enough I could tell in training. If it's anything like what he did to me the day before I left… It's bad."

"Alright. You've got a few options then. First, go to Eric and tell him the truth. Like you said, he's smart. It might aggravate him and he'll be an ass about it, but he knows better than to let a seriously wounded Initiate train without any medical attention. He's mean, but he's not stupid, and he's in leadership. He can order her to get it checked out, although it might cause more trouble for her in the long run." He paused here, and seeing the hard look in Four's eyes, continued, "Or not. Okay, option two then. Talk to her, man. She's your sister. I know you didn't want her here, and I know you don't want to see her hurt, but she's here now and you might be the only one who can convince her to get it checked out."

"I can't. I have enemies, Zeke, you know that. She can't be connected to me, not until she's a member."

"Okay, final option then, far as I can tell," Zeke replied. "Let me handle it."

"How?" It was a marker of just how worried for Lilla Four really was that he didn't dismiss this option out of hand.

"My brother brought her here this morning. I know him, he'll bring her back. He's worried about her too, so it shouldn't be hard to get his cooperation if we need it. Tell me what to look for, and I'll confront her when I have proof. If you're right about the severity, she needs medicine before she gets infected. Our training isn't good for an injured trainee, and it will only get worse. I still remember _your_ stupidity when you got here."

"Yeah."

"If Eric hadn't found you that night, you could have passed out and fell into the Chasm, man. You were damn near delirious. You can't let her get that bad."

"Don't remind me," Four growled at the memory of his biggest rival dragging his ass to the infirmary and dumping him in a bed; of him learning his darkest secret. Zeke was right, he couldn't run the risk of letting Lilla deal on her own, of her letting her injuries fester and endangering her life before someone discovered it. It had been kept mostly quiet when Four's trainers had discovered his own wounds. Although it had gotten out that Marcus was being accused of cruelty, no one connected the quiet, serious Transfer who was first in his class with the image of a beaten boy under the Abnegation leader's lash.

"You think she'll respond to me?" Zeke questioned seriously. He didn't want to bring Lilla's secrets to Uriah's attention if he didn't have to, but with the way she seemed not to truly connect even with her peers, he thought he might have to.

"Honestly, man?" Four sighed, "I've got no clue. She's not the same girl she was when I left. She's always been a quiet kid for the most part, but now… now she's harder, sharper. And from what I can tell, she's all but mute. She won't talk to you unless she's manipulated into it. I can guess at least that much."

"Okay, fair enough. What do you think I will need to treat her? It won't do anyone any good if she refuses to go to the infirmary and I can't help her here. I need to be ready for it."

"Antibacterial cream, a topical coagulant, and a good number of bandages at least. She always bled more than me, so I doubt that's changed. If she's been hiding it for more than a few days, she might need some antibiotics." He paused for a moment. "Something for the pain if you can get your hands on it."

"Shit, man," Zeke sighed, rubbing one hand tiredly over his eyes, "You think it's that bad?"

"It's a guess, but yeah probably. You doing this yourself or with Uriah's help?"

"I don't think she'll let me near her without his help," his friend replied carefully, unsure of Four's reaction to that. He knew how the other man felt about anyone knowing about his past, and figured the same applied to his sister. But the he only nodded, seemingly resigned. "If it helps," Zeke continued, "he already knows you're her brother. She told him herself."

"Alright." Four was quiet for a long, drawn out minute. "Thanks man. I… I know I haven't done right by her, and this isn't really right either… I just don't… anyway, thanks."

"Sure thing. I hope she'll let me help. She's a tough kid, Four; she'll come through this stronger, just like you did."

With those comforting words, the two settled in to chill for a bit before going to grab dinner.

* * *

During the conversation between Four and Zeke, their younger siblings managed to find each other too. Or, more accurately, Uriah managed to find Lilla, still punching away at the training bag in the Pit. She was nearly done with the two hours, and more than ready to collapse into bed after a meal and a shower.

"You can't go a single hour without getting your ass in trouble, can you Mouse?" he asked dryly after watching in silence for a minute. "What'd you do to get yourself landed with extra training on the first day?"

"Pissed off the instructor," she replied succinctly. Uriah rolled his eyes with a frustrated huff.

"Seriously? Your jackass brother punished you on the first day?"

"Not him. Eric."

This time, instead of an eye roll, this drew a huffed breath of frustration. Did this girl seriously have a death wish? They'd joked about it being an Abnegation trait earlier with Tris, but he was beginning to genuinely wonder if she had any care for life at all. And she didn't seem to get it when they told her Eric practically had a giant sign flashing DANGER over his head for a reason.

"And all you got was some extra training? Did you conk him on the head hard enough to scramble his brains or something?" he demanded sharply.

"No."

"Oh for the love of… More than one word please!" he cried, grabbing her arm at the elbow before she could swing again, pulling her around to face him.

Lilla didn't give him even one word this time. Instead, she pulled down the very edge of her turtleneck to expose the dark bruises she'd felt form under Eric's strong grip. She hadn't seen them, but she knew they were there. Uriah's dark eyes widened at the sight.

"That bastard choked you!?" he snapped, reaching forward automatically to pull the fabric down further and get a better look. Lilla stepped back and readjusted the shirt immediately.

"Not exactly," she disagreed, "He grabbed my neck and it left bruises, but he never fully cut off my breathing or anything."

"I told you, the dude's dangerous, Mouse! You've got to stop poking at him!"

"I didn't do anything this time!" Lilla snapped right back, tired of hearing the same thing over and over for the last two days. "_Four_," she sneered the name, "thought I was hurt or something, and harassed Eric into taking me to the infirmary. I said no, and asked to return to training. I'm not _trying_ to piss him off, Uriah, it's just that everything I do does!" It was possibly the longest speech Uriah had heard from her yet, and left him a little speechless. With a glance at the clock, Lilla sighed and continued, "Come on, I'm done. Let's go eat."

"I already did," he replied, "but I think your Transfer friends are in there. I'll catch up with you later, alright?" With a nod and a wave, they parted, going in separate directions.

* * *

Lilla made her way to the mess hall, Uriah toward the same abandoned walkway he'd pulled her to on the first night to talk. He didn't know what to do to make her see that she was flirting with death by challenging Eric. Whether she meant it as a challenge or not, the irascible young leader would take any hint of defiance as just that, every single time.

"Hey Uriah," he heard someone say as he passed, "Your bro's lookin' for ya."

"Thanks," he replied, not even bothering to see who it was who'd passed on the message. With a few turns, he headed toward his brother's apartment instead of his hiding place.

He didn't bother to knock on the door when he got there, only to find Zeke out at the moment. He settled in with one of his brother's books to wait, and sure enough the older of the two returned shortly. Surprisingly, Four was with him rather than in the mess hall. Unsurprisingly, he was met with a dirty look from the young Initiate.

"Heard you were looking for me," he greeted Zeke, ignoring the other man completely.

"Uriah," Four greeted. Then, giving a nod to both brothers, he said, "Later, Zeke. Thanks again," and left.

"You can't start a vendetta against your instructor simply because you don't like something he did."

"He's a jerk. At least Eric doesn't pretend he's anything better than what he is." The look in Lilla's eyes every time she called her brother 'Four' was haunting him. It was desolate. Zeke sighed. He had a feeling that knowing the whole situation wouldn't improve Uriah's new-found opinion of his friend, but he didn't have a choice.

"You got a bit, man? This could take a while," he said.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" Uriah asked his brother, abandoning the book and flopping across the springy bed carelessly.

"I have a project, and I need your help, but you're not gonna like it," Zeke replied, stalling. How to approach this?

"Shoot."

"Your friend, Lilla. How much do you know about her?" The older of the brothers sunk down onto the low chair near his bed, settling in for a stressful conversation. He had some explaining to do before they could even begin to form a plan.

* * *

"Where've you been!?" Tris greeted Lilla, who just collapsed into the seat beside her friends among the Transfers and rested her head on the table. She was exhausted, in pain, and way beyond frustrated. And in no mood to talk, apparently.

"Pit."

"But why? Did Eric do something to you earlier?" Al asked worriedly.

"Why'd he pull you out?" Will wanted to know. Chris sort of babbled in and around all of the others until someone chose to bring the chaos to a halt.

"Guys!" Tris snapped a bit, resting what was meant to be a comforting hand on Lilla's shoulder. "Give her some air, for goodness sake. Are you alright Lilla?"

"Yeah," the other girl replied, pulling away from the weight of Tris' hand on her heated skin. "Thanks. Just beat."

"Anyone would be if Eric had made them his personal target," Christina said sympathetically. The others murmured their agreement, but soon enough lost interest in the girl who was unwilling to talk, and returned to their previous conversations. For her part, Lilla was just glad to be surrounded by friendly faces, and ate her dinner in a silent almost-trance while the comforting chatter of her friends washed around her.

* * *

After leaving Zeke and Uriah in Zeke's apartment, Four tramped down to the firing range. There was nothing like taking out his stress and frustration on a dummy with a gun or flying knives. And he had plenty of frustration to take out.

Why did she have to be so difficult? Why did she have to continually draw Eric's attention and offer defiance at every turn? Had she learned nothing, dealing with Marcus' temper, about when to keep your head down and mouth shut? It was tearing away at him, one piece at a time, every time the other instructor picked on his sister and he couldn't stand up for her. But it was safer for her, he knew, if no one knew of their connection until she was a member. And that brought up another worry. What if she didn't make it? She was strong mentally – she always had been – but she was small and physically weak. He knew she hadn't been eating well enough, probably not in her entire life, but would she be able to build up enough muscle in time to place in the top ten and make it into Dauntless? And if she was cut… would he follow her to the Factionless? That, at least had a simple answer.

_In a heartbeat_.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **Okay, I don't think I've ever written anything in my life as fast as I've been writing this! Your reviews and support is astounding, and I just wanted to thank everyone so very much! Those of you who review as guests, I will say thank you here, as I can't say it to you personally. I do respond to all the reviews I can, so if you have a question or want a reply, leave an email or sign in! Your feedback is no less appreciated than all the rest. Happy reading!

**Chapter Four: Learning to Breathe**

The next day went on in much the same way as the first one. Lilla woke and met Uriah for breakfast, and then went with the other Transfers to the gun range at 8:00. Eric was nowhere to be seen, but Four was on the floor waiting for them, and Max stood on the overpass, observing. It was annoying just how much relief Lilla felt when she saw the more domineering leader's absence.

She and Tris lined up with their guns for practice, with Will and Christina on Lilla's other side, and Al beside Tris. Surrounded by her new friends, she was surprised to find that she could push her stress and pain to the side a bit and focus on the task at hand. Four started the lesson almost immediately, walking behind the Initiates, giving instruction and correction as needed. Lilla could feel eyes on her every once in a while, but every time she glanced his way, he was focused on someone else. It grated on her nerves.

"Four keeps glancing at you," Christina said after a while, her whisper covered by the resounding bangs of the firearms. "You sure do know how to get the wrong kind of attention, girl!"

"He hasn't said a word to me," Lilla returned. "He can glare all he likes, as long as he doesn't try to pull me from training again."

"I thought Eric pulled you."

Their conversation, held between shots, was almost as grating as Four's eyes on Lilla's back, but she bit back the irritated response. Most likely, snapping at Christina wouldn't offend the former Candor (who seemed to have an innate talent for making people angry with her blunt comments), but she didn't want to risk alienating one of her first friends on only the second day of training.

"He did it on Four's recommendation," she replied instead.

"Really?! What have those two got against you? You know it's bad if two guys who so obviously hate each other are working together against you already!"

"I have no idea," Lilla lied, keeping her eyes trained on her target so the human lie detector beside her couldn't see them. It was only a half-lie. She knew what Tobias had against her. He was distinctly unhappy that she was in Dauntless. Eric was more of a mystery, really, but she thought he probably just had it in for anyone he saw as weak, and dismissed it at that. Christina scowled, but let it go when her attention was drawn by Will's teasing from her other side. When the other girl wasn't looking, Will shot Lilla a wink and continued keeping their friend occupied. She gave him a grateful smile and kept shooting. Her shots continued to go wide of the mark.

"Keep both eyes open. You are focusing too much with the left one, so you're going wide. You need your peripheral vision too, in a combat situation" she heard her brother's voice behind her, making her tense. "Adjust your stance a bit," he continued, pulling her leg back for more balance and straightening her shoulders as gently as possible. He was painfully aware that pulling her shoulders would hurt her, but it wouldn't do to let her continue to shoot poorly either. He hoped Zeke got her fixed up soon, or he thought he might go mad. "If you relax your shoulders and tense your core, you'll have better aim, and you won't get tired as fast."

"Yes, _Four_," she bit out, tension making her snippy, "thank you." But she did as he told her, and sure enough, her shooting began to improve a bit. Her brother moved on, and Lilla relaxed again, as much as she was able.

It felt like a blow to Four's chest when she snapped out his nickname in such a bitter tone, but he couldn't blame her. He'd betrayed her, he knew, and that wasn't going to change. Was it too late already to be close again? If it wasn't yet, would it be once she was safely a member of Dauntless? He didn't know if he, were he in her shoes, could ever forgive the brother who left her to hell all alone for two years, and then treated her like a pariah when they were finally reunited. He just prayed Zeke would be able to help.

* * *

Once the morning hours on the range were over, Lilla returned to her dorm, rather than joining her friends in the mess hall. Her arms ached, but she was satisfied with the small improvement she'd seen in her shooting, with Tobias' – _Four's, she reminded herself ruthlessly_ – help. She wasn't hungry, and collapsing into bed for an hour was much more appealing than being surrounded by so many people, all eating and talking, laughing raucously. There was always so much noise in the Dauntless compound, more than she'd ever heard in her life.

"You shouldn't miss meals, Mouse," a voice said from the doorway, not long after she'd fallen into her cot, face down, "You need the energy for training."

"I thought you were going to leave the nicknames to your brother," she replied, not even bothering to pick her head up.

"Eh, you're little and grey. It fits. Want to eat with me and Uriah? He's up in my room, and it's quieter there than the mess hall."

Lilla considered it for a long moment. Did she want company? Not really. But he was right about missing meals. It was sort of her default response to stress to have little appetite, but with the rigors of the Initiates' lessons, she knew she needed the nutrition.

"Sure," she finally agreed, "Thanks."

The walk up to the private apartments was quiet. Zeke could see that Lilla was tired, and he didn't press her to talk. If he was going to help, he needed to take it slow. Uriah was in on it now, and they had the bones of a plan. Although he suspected his brother was struggling against the desire to simply pin the girl down and make her stay still long enough for her wounds to be treated, the younger man was reacting with a steely determination that would serve him well.

"Hey Mouse!" Uriah greeted when they entered the room. There were several containers of various kinds of food spread out on the small counter near one wall, and the Dauntless-born Initiate already had plates made up for the three of them. They sat down to eat peacefully, but soon the room was filled with Uriah's chatter. He spoke of his fellow Initiates, the training, his brother's job on guard duty in the city, the job he wanted… Surprisingly enough, Lilla found her friend's endless speech comforting, rather than overwhelming as she found the others. She'd spent so long in silence, that talking didn't come naturally to her anymore. Once, when she was still with her brother, she'd been able to speak to him, although rarely to anyone else. Now, she felt as if there was a constant gag on her tongue. Her mind whirled, but her mouth rarely seemed to react. Even with Eric, who irritated her to no end with his arrogant, casual cruelty, she felt unable to tell him what she really thought of him. Instead, she reacted with cool silence and carefully proper responses that seemed to piss him off anyway. When had she stopped wanting to react to bullies? When she was little, she would stand up brashly to her father, even when it was more prudent to remain still and quiet. She would yell back when he tormented Tobias and herself, even knowing it would earn her worse punishment. Tobias had always been the more reasonable one. Over time, she'd learned to keep her mouth shut, but it was when her brother left, she thought, that she'd stopped caring.

And now… now he seemed almost as cold as Eric sometimes. But then again, so was she. The two years they'd been apart had changed them both, not necessarily all for the better.

"Hey… Mouse… Lilla!" Uriah's sudden voice interrupted Lilla's darkening thoughts loudly, right in her ear, and she jumped back, spilling her half-empty plate in the process. She had zoned out of the conversation pretty quickly, and he was growing concerned for his friend. Her eyes were somewhere else; and it was not a good place, wherever they were.

"You good?" the younger brother asked, his warm gaze worried, as his older sibling started to clean up the mess. Lilla just nodded and joined Zeke in cleaning. In a moment, the food was gone and the plate set aside.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, twisting the fingers of one hand over the others.

"No worries," the owner of the apartment assured her with a gentle smile. "You must be exhausted."

"It's only day two."

"Yeah, but the Transfers always take the first week or so to settle into the schedule. You want to crash on my bed until lunch is over? It would be more comfortable than your dorm cot."

"I don't," Lilla started to refuse the offer, her Abnegation kicking in, but in the end, she was as exhausted as he thought, and with a grateful look, she nodded. Uriah and Zeke moved off the bed as the small girl stretched out on her stomach. The younger brother produced a light blanket, but she was already drifting off as he laid it over her. They had almost an hour still that she could rest, and the brothers moved off to the other half of the small apartment to let her take the time.

"Do you think she's sick already?" Uriah asked, his dark eyes not leaving his friend's prone form. "Or is she really just tired?" His brother had explained the situation the night before, in detail. He knew Lilla was suffering from injuries to her back, caused by her father's vicious beatings. It explained a lot really. The way she held herself so rigidly; the way she refused any clothes that revealed even an inch of skin. Even her lack of care and fear made more sense, if she'd been leaving under the abuse of her father for her whole life. They were all observations he'd made over the past two days, but before he hadn't had the glue to put them together. And the conclusion made his blood boil.

"If she's not, she will be soon," Zeke replied, keeping his voice down to allow their guest the rest she needed, "Her workout this afternoon isn't going to help anything either. Four says we have to act fast, or it will only get worse."

"How could anyone's father do this to them?" the sixteen-year-old demanded with a crack of his hands, furious energy spilling out of him after keeping it contained all morning. "How didn't I see it before?!"

"You've only known her for a few days, man. You gotta chill. Once we figure out how to make her admit it, I have the supplies to help."

"And do you know how? I mean… if it's as bad as you say… maybe we should just take her up to the infirmary, whether she likes it or not."

Zeke sighed. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten pulled into this. Well, that wasn't true. After everything they'd been through together in the past two years, he'd do anything for Four. And he knew the other man would do the same for him. But really, wasn't this something her brother should be handling, rather than two young men she'd met only a few days ago? Still, he could see the truth in his friend's reservations. Now how to explain it to his younger, more impulsive brother?

"I have training in field dressing wounds, Uriah. If we drag her to the infirmary, they could pull her out of training. If Four handles it, and it gets out that they're related, she could be made a target. She can't be seen as weak – for _either_ reason – if she wants to survive and make it in to Dauntless. She's got enough going against her as it is."

"So what? We wait? And what happens if she does what her idiot brother did, and isn't found before she stumbles off the Chasm!?"

"Quiet," Zeke snapped with a significant glance at the sleeping girl. "We won't let that happen. For today, we watch her. Tonight we talk to Four together." He paused, seeing his brother's scowl. "Don't give me that look, and don't give him your attitude," he ordered. "He's doing the best he can with a crap situation."

"He left her. From the looks of it, to be tortured by their own father," Uriah insisted stubbornly, "Decent people don't do that. If I was Lilla, I'd never say another word to him again, and spend every minute I could making him miserable."

"That," the elder replied, punching his younger sibling on the arm none too gently, "is because you are a vindictive, violent man with a temper a mile wide."

"True," Uriah admitted with a careless shrug, "But at least I'm loyal." Zeke winced. He hoped his brother wouldn't say anything like that to Four, who was already beating himself black and blue over this. He wondered absently, looking over the sleeping girl with a critical eye, if it wouldn't be better for everyone if she had gone to Amity. Lilla wouldn't be in danger, the healers from the kindest faction could look after her, his brother wouldn't have half his focus on another Initiate when he should be training, and his best friend wouldn't be tearing himself to shreds.

* * *

The guys let Lilla sleep until the last possible second, and when Uriah walked her to the Transfers' training area, she admittedly felt a little better.

"Thanks Uriah," she whispered, before waving slightly and slipping into the training room where she knew the other transfers were congregating. She wasn't looking forward to another round with the punching bag, but hoped that at least Eric would be absent from this lesson as well.

Her hope was dashed as soon as she walked in the room. There, right at the front, was the enigmatic, easily angered leader she was least hoping to see. And no Four.

* * *

Eric saw the Abnegation fluff scuttle in the door, waving to someone as she did, and sneered on reflex. She was on the edge of being late, but since two more rushed in behind her, he kept his peace and started the lesson.

"Well Initiates," he barked, enjoying as they all stiffened up at the sound of his voice, "I spent my morning with the Dauntless-born today, and I've gotta say, I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of you Transfers transferring right back out. Straight to the factionless." There was some nervous shifting, and a whisper or two that were silenced with the first hint of a glare their way. He couldn't help but notice that the fluff didn't react at all. "This is the second, and last full afternoon you'll have to practice on a dummy. Later this week, we'll pair you up for a real fight. Make good use of this time, children, or you will get hurt when those smart enough to do so pound you into the mat." With those less than kind words, and a single gesture, he sent the group to the dummies and punching bags to work on their skill.

His cold, dark eyes roamed over the practicing Initiates in stony silence for a while. Some showed potential. Edward, the former Erudite boy clearly had both training and talent, but his girl Myra was hopeless. Peter, Molly, and Drew were middle of the road, but the first had a vicious look that reminded Eric strongly of himself. He could use that. The other two were too stupid to bother with.

The group containing the two Abnegation girls, however, was the curiosity. Or, more accurately, the Abnegation girls themselves. Tris, the first jumper, had no strength in her blows, but she struck the training dummy with a solid determination that could be put to use if she would just stop being such a timid little twit about it. Christina, Will, and Al – all spaced around her – were not terrible, but they were nothing special either. They wouldn't be the first to go, but they might still find themselves out on their asses before the initiation was over. If they did make it, they wouldn't be top. Then there was the fluff. _Lilla_, his mind conjured the name for him, as well as the emotionless way she'd delivered it up on the roof. He'd lied to Sinade, that day in the mess hall, when he said he didn't know who she was. This girl was far too infuriating to forget her name.

And she wasn't afraid of him. That was a rub. Eric prided himself on scaring the wits out of each year he'd had the displeasure of Initiating into Dauntless, starting with his own. What was it about this girl, that she didn't care if she was staring death in the face? He'd had his thumb on her windpipe, could have pressed hard enough over her jugular to make her pass out, to kill her even, and all she'd done was insist on returning to the training room. But he'd seen a look in her eye once or twice, one that told him she did have _something_ to fear. He needed to know what that something was.

He was Dauntless, through and through, but his roots were Erudite. And solving puzzles was a purely Erudite pastime. Lilla, he decided, was a puzzle. He wasn't sure if he wanted to solve her, or break her. But in the meantime, he'd make sure she didn't get cut. Where would the fun in that be?

* * *

"Tighten up, Fluff," Eric roared, materializing behind Lilla's dummy and holding it still. "Hit the damn thing, don't swat at it! What are you going to do when you're facing something that hits back!?" She fought down her heart, which suddenly felt as if it was in her throat in response to the roar, and gave her instructor a curt nod, tightening her core muscles. It hurt. Holding her back straight and her middle tight was more painful than she'd expected, and there was a flash of that pain over her features before she could conceal it. But the intimidating man had already moved on to his next target and she was, thankfully, allowed to continue.

This continued on for the rest of the afternoon. Eric was taunting, infuriating, and often needlessly cruel with his comments and criticisms. She felt the glimmer of anger simmering in her chest, but didn't rise to the bait, even when he took to tormenting Al instead. The large boy took what the leader dished out in stewing silence, bolstered by his friends' sympathetic looks. Despite the less than stellar instruction methods, Lilla found herself making use of the advice concealed in the taunts. By the end of the lesson, her punches and kicks were more accurate and forceful than before, but she didn't think she held much hope of making it through a real fight.

When the lesson was released and they were sent to dinner, she was moving stiffly despite her best efforts. It wasn't out of place, at least. All the Transfers seemed to be sore from the exercise, so her stilted motions went unnoticed. By most.

* * *

From his seat in the mess hall, Zeke watched his friend's little sister enter with her fellow Transfers. Uriah would be down to dinner soon, and they intended to meet up with Four afterward, but for the time being he simply observed. He would be back on duty in the city in a few days, so whatever good they could do would have to be done before then.

Lilla moved carefully, but she didn't seem quite as bad as he'd expected after her long afternoon. Four would be pleased, at least.

It didn't take long for Uriah to join his older brother, greeting the other Dauntless at the table with a nod before dragging Zeke off to his apartment. The brothers walked quietly side by side, joined near the living quarters by Four. It wasn't until they were all safe behind the closed black door that anyone spoke.

"Zeke, Uriah," Four greeted solemnly.

"Hey man," his friend replied, but the younger brother remained steely and silent.

"Zeke explained what's going on?"

"He did," Uriah replied bitingly. "He explained that you can't take care of your own sister, so we are going to do it."

"Uriah," Zeke growled in warning, but Four didn't reprimand the Initiate. It wasn't anything he hadn't already thought of himself.

"Then you know what's at stake," he replied with a nod. "My hands are tied. Lily's stubborn and strong, but she doesn't have an endless supply of energy. If I'm right – and I almost certainly am – her whole back at the very least is thoroughly torn up. Without treatment, the lacerations will turn septic, and she'll get sick. I nearly died, when the fever made me careless. I won't watch that happen to her."

"So why don't you do it, huh?" Uriah challenged, despite his brother's warning. He felt nothing but contempt for the Dauntless before him. "If you care so damn much, why'd you leave her there in the first place?"

"Because I won't make this harder on her than it already is," Four returned calmly. "If I'd stayed, neither of us would have ever gotten out. If I help her now, she could end up Factionless, or worse." He let the pain in his eyes show as he met the warm brown ones of his sister's first friend. "If she's cut, it will be because she can't keep up, not because someone who's afraid of me taking their place hurts her to get to me. And if she is cut, I'll follow her out without hesitation." This statement stalled the younger man. He could see the sincerity in Four's eyes, hear it in his voice, as he professed that he'd leave Dauntless before letting his sister be on her own again. That, along with the raw edge to his instructor/friend that he'd never seen before, softened him minutely.

"How do we get her to admit it?" he asked quietly. This was out of the Dauntless-born's depth. He and Zeke had grown up without parents, but no one had ever been cruel to them. They'd had enough food and protection from their faction, and affection from each other. He'd been in fights, many of them, but no one had ever struck him from pure malice, especially someone as close as a father. And, though he cared for Lilla already, he didn't know her well enough to know how to make her see reason. She was easily the most intriguing girl he'd ever met, and he already knew they would be friends for as long as he could imagine, but he hadn't had a chance to get to know her yet. Not really.

"Bring her here for dinner tomorrow, like you did for lunch today," Four said, suddenly sounding more monotone before. "She doesn't like noise much, so a quiet place will be tempting. If you can manage it, pretend to horse around and slap her on the back or something like that. She won't be able to hide the pain." He winced at the memory of that burn, that raging, sizzling pain that lingered on the skin for so long after one of his father's lashings. Even the barest brush over torn skin hurt, rekindled the fire with every contact. A slap to the back would be excruciating, and he knew even someone as practiced at it as Lily couldn't hide her reaction.

It about killed him to suggest it, but he had no other ideas. Uriah opened his mouth immediately to protest. He was tempted to try to strike the older man. What the hell was Four thinking?! But Zeke's hand stalled him.

"You want us to force her to reveal it, so we can convince her to let us help?" the older brother asked seriously. He wasn't sure he liked this plan at all. Four nodded.

"What the hell dude!?" Uriah's silence ruptured. "You want me to hurt her?!"

"I want you to make her accept the help," the strained man replied. He sounded almost broken. "She's stubborn," he insisted, "_So _stubborn. I…" His eyes finally left the floor to meet Uriah's. He had to make the younger man understand. "When we were kids, she let herself be beaten with a hot iron rather than reveal that it was something _I'd_ done that pissed our father off. She's been keeping secrets for nearly sixteen years, and she won't give them up now without a fight. The quickest, most painless way to get them in the long run is to force the matter." He ran his hands through his short, messy hair, almost pulling it in frustration. "Don't think for a second that I like this. She's my baby sister, _mine_ to protect, and in so many ways I can't. But I will protect her in whatever way possible, even if it's from herself."

Uriah considered his brother and friend for a long time. Could he really do this? Knowingly hurt his new friend, even to protect her? He realized, suddenly, that he didn't have much choice if he wanted to help. It was the only way to do it, and keep it a secret from those who would use the information to hurt Lilla.

"Fine," he finally grumbled, "but I swear if this doesn't work, I'm coming after you."

"I don't doubt it," Four assured him. "And I'm glad Lily has such a good friend in you."

"You call her Lily?"

The instructor cringed. He hadn't even realized he'd slipped into using his sister's nickname. She didn't go by Lily anymore, and probably hadn't for two years now. Mistakes like that were a good way to get her hurt. The leadership had their eye on Four, and he was well aware of it. Some, like Max, wanted to recruit him more than anything else, but others were threatened by him, and would use anything to make sure he was kept out of the top positions. Despite the fact that they'd already been offered and refused.

"Not anymore," he sighed, before turning and leaving the other two young men. He just hoped their plan worked. He didn't know what they would do if it didn't.

* * *

While Lilla's new friends and brother plotted to help her, she sat in the midst of her fellow Transfers and picked at the food Al had piled on her plate. She wasn't sure why they all seemed to think she couldn't make her own plate, but she didn't have the energy to protest.

"You got better today," Tris said kindly as they ate, watching the other Abnegation girl with a bit of concern. She couldn't imagine speaking as little as Lilla did. Even in their former Faction, where questions were not allowed, she'd always spoken fairly freely with her family. Her brother especially. Caleb… She wondered how he was doing in Erudite.

Lilla nodded gratefully and continued to eat.

"Why don't you talk, Lilla?" Al asked, startling the girl a bit with the direct question.

"I talk."

"Nah," Will disagreed, eyeing the smallest of them around Christina's head as if she presented some interesting anomaly. "The average human speaks somewhere around 16000 words a day. Even taking into account the less verbose tendencies of Abnegation, you don't come anywhere near average."

"Alright Erudite know-it-all," Christina snorted, poking Will in the side playfully. "Leave the poor girl alone. No one wants your book-chat here."

"Yeah," Al joined in the teasing, "Just like no one wants your Candor truth!"

"You were Candor too."

"I was a terrible Candor, and you know it!"

"That's the truth."

The group of friends shared a laugh as Al and Christina continued to bicker. It quickly escalated from a verbal spat to flying bread and fruit. Lilla ducked the airborne food, but chuckled along with the others as the tension lessened after their harrying day.

For the first time, she realized, she thought she might be learning to breathe.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: **As always, I want to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story! I am utterly overwhelmed with the response I've gotten, and every word y'all send means so much to me. I am always open to suggestions and critiques, so feel free to tell me if you have an idea or a way I can make this better!

On another note, I know this chapter is a little bit shorter than the others. It will also unfortunately be the last one for at least two weeks, as I am going out of the country. While I will have my laptop, my schedule is going to be so hectic and busy I will barely be sleeping, let alone writing! I hope y'all can be patient with me during the wait. The knife throwing is one of my favorite scenes in Divergent, as I am a knife thrower myself. Pretty much, Lilla's thoughts on the beauty, subtlety and grace of blades are my own. So I can't wait to see what you guys think! I hope you enjoy.

**Chapter Five: Knives**

"Let's GO Lilla!" Tris called, grabbing the other girl's hand and pulling her along the dark, rough hallway insistently. They were nearly late for training, and neither wanted to face the wrath of their intimidating instructors. Either Four or Eric. It was only Tris' kindness that had her still with Lilla. The others had left her in the dorm earlier, assuming she would wake on her own as she always did.

"I'm trying," Lilla snapped waspishly, stumbling a step behind her friend. She'd had a rough night, and the morning was shaping up to be no better. Her head ached, her back burned and throbbed in time with her elevated pulse, and she felt so exhausted she wanted to sleep for a week. She hadn't asked Tris to stay behind, and she didn't have the patience to keep her temper today.

"Well, not hard enough!"

"Go on then," the smaller girl hissed, venom in her tone, "I didn't ask you to wait. And I can't go any faster than I am." They were jogging along the treacherous, narrow paths of the Dauntless compound at a pace too fast for safety.

Tris sighed. Why had she waited? Oh, right… Lilla was her friend, and she wasn't waking up on time, and that was what friends did for each other. That she'd overslept, in itself, was very odd. The quiet girl was known for being up before everyone else in the first few days they'd been here. She and the Dauntless-born she liked to spend time with always seemed to have had their breakfast well before the others were even thinking of waking. Her blue eyes scanned Lilla as they jogged. She took note of the fine sheen of sweat on her forehead, reddening cheeks, and darker than normal eyes, and found herself a bit worried.

"Are you alright, Lilla?" she wanted to know.

"Yes."

Tris sighed again, but let it go, and the girls continued, their jog becoming a sprint as they reached the ground level of the Pit. They managed to make it to training on time, but only just, and earned a scowling glare from Four as they entered. Eric was once again nowhere to be seen, much to Lilla's relief. She wasn't sure she could handle him today.

"This morning," their instructor said, "We are going to work on shooting at targets while moving. Up on the roof we've set up a sort of obstacle course for you to work through. Targets will spring up as you pass, and you have to make a kill shot. This means head or heart." He let his eyes rove over the crowd of Transfers in silence for a moment, and it took a great deal of effort to not let them rest on his sister, who was looking a little green after her run. "Alright Initiates," he said, concern making his voice more than a little curt, "with me."

Lilla followed at the back of the pack as they trudged behind her brother. She was warm. And nauseous. And a little dizzy. The list was growing, she realized suddenly. Al, Will, and Christina all asked after her when they realized she hadn't woken up like normal, but she met their questions with short nods. She missed the significant look that passed between Tris and the others, too wrapped up in putting one foot in front of the other to notice much else. At the front, Four's focus was on much the same, though for different reasons.

He could see that, whatever Lilla's injuries were, she was markedly worse this morning. And he felt the fear clench and settle coldly in his heart. Zeke and Uriah had to act today, or he knew she could easily end up dead. Either the wounds would continue to fester, and kill her with infection, or she would make a stupid mistake in training or on one of the more hazardous paths, and die that way. Neither scenario was one he wanted to even begin to contemplate.

"Grab a gun, you lot!" he called gruffly, gesturing to the tables nearby. "You'll be going through one at a time. Time to see if your target practice the past two days did any good."

The Initiates lined up with their guns, ready to run the course. It was a gauntlet of orange, human-shaped targets the length of the gravel-topped roof they were on. These guns were a bit bigger, a bit heavier than the ones they'd first practiced with, but the function was essentially the same.

"Peter," Four called, gesturing the former Candor near the start of the course. He didn't like this boy at all. He showed up to training half-asleep, spoke with an attitude to everyone around him and – most irritating of all – continually taunted Lilla. Four felt a bit of savage glee that he'd held his gun to Peter's head the first morning, once he'd seen his treatment of his sister. "See if you can handle that gun without shooting yourself in the foot," he sneered, nodding at the targets.

One by one, each one of the Transfers went through the target line. Some did better than others. Lilla's aim was off, but she managed to at least hit the targets for the most part. The same couldn't be said for Tris or Al, but Christina was about where Lilla was. Will, on the other hand, blew the rest of them out of the water. Even Edward didn't have an eye for aiming as good as his fellow former Erudite's. As they went through the lesson, it became apparent that Four was doing his best to be nasty to Peter, Drew, and Molly. He constantly berated them without giving advice on how to improve, making the female of the trio turn red in anger and humiliation over and over again. Peter only scowled and glared, not stupid enough to rise to the instructor's bait, and Drew didn't seem like he took much notice of the insults being hurled at them.

Lilla was a bit surprised at her brother's viciousness. If it wasn't for the fact that she'd seen his temper more than once already since starting initiation, she would have been utterly shocked by it. He'd always been so soft-spoken growing up, so kind. She wondered which side of him was an act. Or was it that both were like two sides of a coin, and one had simply been hidden for his childhood years? She'd always had a temper, although the last two years had taught her to control it, but Tobias was the kind one. He barely even knew _how_ to react in anger before.

As they finished up the first round of the exercise, Lilla heard Will remark to Tris teasingly, "You know, statistically you should have hit at least once. Even by accident." She missed the rest of the exchange though, as she was jostled by Peter and his merry band of morons, almost knocking her off her feet.

"Hey!" Al growled, seeing Lilla stumble, "Watch what you're doing."

"Or what," Molly asked nastily, "you'll aim for the opposite end of the range and actually manage to hit one of us?"

Al didn't have a response to that, but Tris and Will – now finished with their little spat – jumped to his defense. Lilla thought it would become an all-out fist fight, but her brother stepped in.

"Enough!" he spat, "Or I'll have you scrubbing every toilet in the dorms and barracks for the rest of initiation." The Initiates quieted down, but glares were still exchanged from one half of the group to the other for the rest of the morning. When they were dismissed for lunch, Four was glad to be left to pack up the guns alone. He was going to go mad this time, he was sure. The past two years hadn't been nearly this aggravating.

* * *

"Mouse!" Lilla heard Uriah yell over the noisy din as soon as she entered the mess hall. He was seated with his Dauntless-born friends, who she had yet to meet, but he quickly said goodbye and made his way through the crowd to her side. "Where the heck were you this morning?" he demanded, the harsh tone softened by the worry in his brown eyes.

"I overslept."

Uriah sighed – a noise he was making more and more often since meeting Lilla – and grabbed her small, pale hand in his, pulling her to one of the empty corner tables. He told her to sit, and went to fill a plate for each of them. The line was long for the food, but soon enough he was back at their seats. Lilla's head was resting on the table when he got back, and she seemed to be moving more slowly than normal as she sat up.

"Why don't we eat dinner with my brother tonight?" he suggested immediately. It couldn't wait. In just one night she had clearly gotten weaker. She looked rather ill, at this point.

"Sure."

Their lunch together was fairly quiet, with Uriah chatting a bit to fill the silence every once in a while. Lilla listened attentively as he described the other Dauntless-born Initiates, their dorm, their training… anything that came to mind really.

By the time their ninety minutes were nearly up, Uriah was thoroughly worried about her. Even more than he had been already.

"So meet me here after afternoon training," he said in goodbye, "and we'll head up to Zeke's place." Lilla nodded with a hint of a smile. A quiet dinner with the calming brothers sounded nice. The mess hall was always so loud and hectic, and it wasn't helping her headache.

The pair parted at the door, headed for the two separate training rooms. Lilla walked at a sedate pace, a little unsure of her footing on the uneven path, and arrived in plenty of time. At the far end of the hall, tables were set up in a row across the room, several yards from the wall. On the wall, she saw targets had been hung, but not the same ones as when they'd first learned to shoot a gun. Eric and Tobias were both there, as were a fair number of her fellow Initiates, but she wasn't last to enter. She slipped herself in behind Al, hoping to attract as little attention as possible. She was too tired to deal with Eric.

* * *

"Alright Transfers," Eric said once all the trainees were all there, "Today you get a day away from punching things. Don't get used to it. Next time you fight, you fight each other. For now, knives." He glanced around, seeing his words had the desired effect. Some looked curiously at the tables and some watched him fearfully, but some remained uninterested. The little Abnegation fluff was one of the first group. Her eyes lingered on the blades lining the table with an unusual spark in their pale grey depths. It made her pointed, delicate face a little less smoothly emotionless. An odd, but not unappealing difference. "Everyone grab three knives," he continued. "You'll be throwing them until you start sticking them, so hurry up. Four will demonstrate the proper technique."

With that said, he stood with his back against the wall while the sixteen-year-olds collected their blades and lined up behind Four, who was already ready to give his demonstration. Eric knew that, although his rival was ranked first in almost everything else, he himself was better with knives. They were, in fact, his favored weapon. However, he had no desire to teach; he never had. He'd leave that to the other man, adding comments as he felt like it. His job was to supervise Four and Lauren in the training, not train the whelps himself.

Four had several knives in his hand already. They gleamed in his fist, catching Lilla's eye. She wasn't sure why the sleek metal held such beauty to her eyes, but it did. And as she collected her own three, she decided she liked the feel of them in her hand much better than the raw power of the guns. They were a more subtle kind of power. Defense she could hide until the last minute. An attack she could use from the shadows in a silent way that no gun could ever accomplish. _Yes_, she decided, _blades were definitely preferable to firearms_.

"When you throw," Four began, raising his voice to be heard, "wherever your arm is pointing when the knife flies is where it will hit. Your eyes are used to _decide_ where to aim, but it's your body that does the work." He raised his right hand, one long throwing knife held securely by the blade between his thumb and palm, and continued, "Bring your arm back next to your ear, swing at the elbow and shoulder in the direction you want to throw, and release. Allow your wrist to almost flick the knife as it leaves your hand, but don't just pull back once you've let go. Follow through, or your projectile will move off balance." As he spoke, he demonstrated the perfect technique, and the blade was quickly buried almost to the hilt in the green target at the end of the room. Lilla was not surprised that her brother was as excellent at this as everything else, but she couldn't help but be a little awed. She wanted to be able to do that!

"Your feet should be planted solidly, one slightly in front of the other. Remember to bring your arm all the way back, and to keep your core tight. The more tension in your core, the more power you can put behind a throw. But relax your shoulders and wrist, let the movements come naturally." With these words, Four let two more knives fly in rapid succession, lining them less than an inch apart on the target in a neat row alongside the first one. "If you do it right, you can hit a space the size of a coin. Eventually. Now it's your turn." He stepped back, allowing the Initiates to move toward the lines on the floor from which they would be throwing.

"You think we can do this?" Al asked Lilla, who was still right beside him, nervously. Tris was on his other side, with Will and Christina beside her.

"No choice," Lilla replied quietly, most of her attention on going through her brother's instructions in her head. She saw Tris practicing the motions without a blade. It was a good idea, but she decided that she could learn better with the metal in hand as a motivator. So, with a deep breath, she set up the stance they'd been shown and began to throw the blades at the end of the room.

The sound of clanging metal bouncing off the targets, coupled with muttered (and not so muttered) curses made for a loud cacophony that grated on the ear a bit. However, Lilla tuned it out and continued doggedly to send knives flying across the room. After the first two failed throws, they were striking the target fairly accurately, but it was the flat of the blade that struck, not the point.

"Relax your wrist," a voice ordered gruffly from behind her suddenly, having snuck up on her while her attention was on practicing. Eric grabbed her shoulders none too gently, unknowingly making her want to cry out in pain, and pulled them back, straightening her posture. "Keep your back straight, your feet firm, and relax your throwing arm." Lilla turned around to face the Dauntless leader warily. Why was he being so… even-tempered?

"Alright," she said after a long minute, deciding to take whatever she could get if it meant being able to stick the blades like Tobias had. Then, reluctantly turning her back to the looming man, she followed his advice.

The blade stuck. It was the first successful throw of the day.

* * *

It wasn't until nearly the end of the lesson that something went wrong. Almost everyone was hitting the target, though only a few were sticking knives consistently. Lilla was among the few. Her poor friend beside her, though, was certainly not. In fact, he was the only one who had barely had a few throws that even connected with the target, let alone stuck.

"What the hell was that, Initiate?!" Eric roared behind them when his latest knife went several feet wide of where he was aiming, interfering with the others' practice.

"It slipped," Al replied, visibly gulping down the knot in his throat. Lilla stood stock still as Eric mocked and baited her friend. She didn't know what to do. On one hand, if she spoke up it would draw attention to herself; something she desperately wanted to avoid at the moment. The more their observant young leader observed her, the more she risked her secret being discovered. On the other, Al was her friend. She hadn't had a chance to speak with him about his crying at night as she'd planned, but she did want to help him if she could. And she didn't want to stand back as someone was bullied by a person in power. And now Eric was ordering Al to stand in front of a target and let knives be thrown at him! It was ridiculous…

Just as she was opening her mouth though, another voice spoke up.

"Stop this!" Tris yelled. Lilla, relieved that someone was stopping this, listened as her friend told the irascible man what she thought of him and his idea. Her eyes widened at the boldness. And they thought _she_ had a death wish. Tris was all but challenging Eric to kill her here and now.

The group of Initiates watched – most in horror – as Eric switched his attention to his challenger. Tris was ordered to take Al's place, and Four called upon to throw the knives. Her brother's voice as he questioned the orders was unconcerned, completely apathetic, but Lilla could see the tension around his jaw. It was a dead giveaway, but one she thought only she would spot. He was afraid to do this, afraid he would hurt Tris.

Lilla knew, just as she had when it was Al in the line of fire, that she could do nothing. Internally she raged at the helpless feeling in her chest. Her friend was about to have knives sent sailing at her head, and her brother was the one being forced to throw them. In that moment, she hated Eric with a fiery passion she'd – until now – reserved only for her father. He was cruel, calculating, and infuriating. Heartless. And he reveled in the power he held over others, using that power to make them suffer. Just like Marcus.

One knife landed about a foot from Tris. The only comfort anyone had was that they'd seen a demonstration of Four's accuracy already. Eric goaded Four to throw closer to his victim, and Four taunted Tris to give up. Lilla had to catch her breath as he heard her brother's harsh words. Had he really become that cold in these past two years, that such injustice couldn't even touch him? He sent another blade flying at her friend. It was closer than the first. Another taunt. Eric complained again that it wasn't close enough. Lilla watched her sibling's face closely. The tension was still there, so why was he making this harder for Tris if he didn't want to?

"Let someone else stand there and take it, Stiff," Four sneered. And a light bulb went on in his sister's head. He wasn't taunting her. In his own, albeit warped, way he was encouraging her. Using her selfless nature to bring out her stubbornness. It was genius, but Lilla was sure that Tris didn't see it as anything but mocking. Their friends too were giving the instructor nothing but dirty looks for his comments.

"Shut up Four!" Tris yelled.

Another blade flew. Wide-eyed, the human target lifted her hand to her ear, and brought it away bloody. Lilla held her breath. Four set his remaining knives down, clearly not willing to throw even one more.

"Alright," Eric snapped, "While I would love to stand here and see if you are all as daring as her, I think that's enough for the day." Everyone let out a collective gasp of air, as if they'd all been holding their breath. They probably had, Lilla thought. She certainly was. The group didn't waste any time in filtering out of the training room, eager to get away from the frightening man who'd started this "lesson" in following orders.

"You cut me," Lilla heard Tris spit at her brother as she was about to leave.

"I meant to," Four replied.

Tris was angry, and did nothing to hide it, but Lilla thought they'd all handled a dangerous situation with few good choices to be had in the best way possible. No one was made Factionless, no one was stabbed, and Eric had been unsuccessful in tormenting any of the Initiates further. It was the best possible outcome.

She listened as her brother explained his actions to the angry girl. Why was he bothering, she wondered, if he didn't care? But, she realized, he did care. About the Initiates, about their training… He came off as cold, but he wanted them all to make it through this. So that begged a single question in Lilla's mind.

_Why doesn't he care about me anymore?_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Moving Forward**

Leaving her brother and Tris in the training room with that unsettling question in mind, Lilla made her way slowly into the mess hall. She wasn't even sure she wanted to have dinner with Zeke and Uriah, but better a quiet meal with them than a noisy one with all of Dauntless. Her friend was waiting for her at the entrance, and whisked her off before she even saw the others.

The walk up to Zeke's apartment was long and jarring. Most of all, it was painful. She found Uriah's hand steadying her by her elbow more than once, much to her chagrin. She _couldn't_ be seen as weak!

"Come on, Mouse," Uriah encouraged as they approached his brother's apartment, "just a bit further." He was worried – more than worried, terrified – for his friend by now. Being merely worried had died at the first look he'd gotten at her as she came towards him in the mess. The look on her face could only be termed… despair. What had happened? He resolved to tackle that problem just as soon as her physical ailments were taken care of.

"Open up, Zeke!" he called, banging on the black door. His older brother answered quickly, and with a smile, but there was a tension to it that belied his easy manner.

"Hey Bro. Mouse," he greeted, opening the door further for them to enter. It had been decided earlier that he'd be the one to force Lilla into the open with her secrets. If it was him, and not Uriah, she couldn't fight back quite as effectively. And if it was him, his brother wouldn't lose his new-found best friend.

So, as the two younger Dauntless walked through his door, he geared himself up to do what had to be done.

"So how was knife throwing, Mouse?" he asked with a forced grin, "I heard you made a pretty good showing!" Then, as if congratulating her, he gave her a solid smack, right to the spot between her shoulder blades.

Lilla felt his hand connect with her torn skin, forcing a shrill cry through her clenched lips. The edges of her vision went red, then blackened a bit, and she stumbled forward. Steadying hands caught her as she fell, and Uriah went willingly to the hard floor with her, making sure she didn't harm herself further.

"Oh, Lilla," he sighed, guiding her body to collapse semi-gracefully into his lap. There were tears streaming from her grey-blue eyes, which were shut tight in agony. The fires of hell felt like they were ripping over her inflamed, infected back.

"What's happened?" Zeke asked, though he knew the answer. He wanted to give her the chance to have some control over the situation, but knew that if she was anything like her elder sibling, there would be no easy resolution.

"S-sorry," Lilla gasped, trying desperately to pull away from her friend's too-warm hands. They quickly went from reassuring to restraining.

"Stay still, Mouse," Uriah whispered, holding her small, pale hands as she struggled weakly.

"Let me go!"

"We can't do that," Zeke said. "We need to know what's wrong."

"No," she snapped, fighting more desperately, but to no avail. "No, I'm fine!" She couldn't let them know. They would tell the others, _tell Tobias_. Tobias couldn't know! "I'm fine, now let me go!" It was the loudest anyone had heard her sweet soprano in a long time, but there was still a shrill, agonized edge to it.

"Shhh," Uriah said, rubbing one thumb back and forth over her palm, though he didn't loosen his iron grip on her hands. "It's alright Mouse. We just want to help."

"I'm going to check your back, Lilla," Zeke added, crouching down beside his brother and the girl he'd heard so much of from Four that he felt as if she was his own little sister. "I need to see."

"Please don't," Lilla gasped, trying to wriggle out of the way. Between the illness creeping up on her from the infection, the lack of sleep and surplus of stress she'd had over the past few days, and the burning pain from Zeke's hand, she was in no shape to fight their ministrations.

In due course, her loose black shirt was twitched gently up over her head, revealing the vilest wounds either of the boys had ever seen. They'd seen training wounds before and Dauntless became well acquainted with injury from a young age; it was in their nature as daredevils. Zeke had even seen some pretty terrible wounds inflicted by someone trying their hardest to do harm in his time as a city guard, but not like this. This… this was systematic torture. And to find it on a pale, skinny sixteen year old girl from Abnegation, of all people… Well, it was unsettling at a level he didn't ever want to experience again.

Lines of gaping tears in Lilla's flesh crossed one over another all the way down her back. Some of the wounds were shinier than others; burns, the boys recognized, feeling ill. All were red, and weeping in a way that spoke of nothing good. The sheer number was overwhelming. What was almost worse was the web work of older injuries, most half-healed, beneath the fresher ones. And beneath that was a story of years of pain and neglect written in white lines of scar tissue, thick and thin, that seemed to cover more of her back than she had visible skin.

"Holy shit!" Uriah thundered. As soon as her shirt had been lifted, Lilla had let all the fight go out of her. She simply didn't have the energy to keep fighting when she knew she was beaten. They'd already seen more than she could ever explain away.

"I'm going to unclasp your bra, Lilla," Zeke said softly, speaking again before making any motion, afraid to startle the girl. "Just stay still and we'll get you fixed up soon." She said nothing in response, reverting quickly to her customary silence in the face of this new horror.

Would she be sent packing? Surely Eric, along with many of her fellow Initiates, would love to see her Factionless for this weakness. What would her brother do, if that happened? Would he even let her say goodbye? She hadn't been able to the last time they were separated.

"It will be okay, Mouse," the younger brother whispered, still stroking Lilla's now entirely slack hand with his own calloused one. "The Erudite medicine will get you feeling better in no time."

"And if I'm cut because I can't keep up?" she spat bitterly.

"You won't be cut," Zeke assured her. "My brother and I will fix you up tonight, and you will already be feeling a bit better by morning. If anything, you will improve in training once you are healed up some."

"But the leaders…"

"Don't need to know about this," Uriah interrupted. "That's why _we're_ doing it, rather than taking you to the infirmary. Now let's get you up on the bed for this."

"You… but… why?"

"Because you need this. And because it is the right thing to do," Zeke replied to her bewildered question.

"Your back is infected, Lilla," Uriah added. "It will only get worse if it's not treated."

"I don't understand…."

"You are my friend. That's why," he replied, getting a little frustrated.

"You've known me for three days, Uriah," Lilla argued.

"Yes, and that's enough to know you are my friend. Now come on, and let Zeke take care of your back."

"But how did you know?"

"It doesn't matter," Zeke answered before his brother could give away Four's involvement. "We do, and we won't tell anyone. On the condition that you let us help you. I don't know how you've been training at all like this."

"I… Thank you… Thank you both." Lilla was too tired and ill to continue arguing, to press for answers. It wasn't as if they were doing harm with the information they'd gathered, however they had gathered it. So, she laid quietly on Zeke's bed as he and Uriah gently began to clean the cuts and burns on her back one at a time. Soon enough, she was drifting mentally as the boys worked, and before she knew it, they were done and wrapping a bandage over her injuries.

She began to stand, but was immediately halted by a firm, gentle hand on her upper arm keeping her where she was.

"You stay here tonight, Mouse," Uriah informed her in a tone that brooked no argument.

"I can't!"

"You can. There are no rules that say when Initiates have to be in bed. So tonight you stay right where you are while those creams work, and in the morning you can go to breakfast and training as normal."

"And how will I explain that?!"

"Tell them you dozed off sitting in a hall somewhere for quiet."

Lilla wasn't sure if she should be worried that her friend could come up with a lie that quickly, but either way it was one that would work. And he was Dauntless-born, not Candor.

"I don't want to take your bed."

"It's fine. I have a couch and Uriah can take the floor with some extra blankets," Zeke replied firmly, his tone – like his brother's – brooking no argument.

* * *

Uriah sat in silence for a while, making his brother a bit nervous. Zeke knew that silence was never a natural state for the younger man. In fact, it wasn't something he'd ever seen before, not this completely anyway. While Uriah watched Lilla, Zeke watched Uriah.

"She'll be okay now," he finally said, bringing his brother's eyes away from their point of focus for only a second.

"Yeah."

"You did all you could. We all did," Zeke tried to reassure him.

"I know."

The short answers were abnormal and very disconcerting coming from the normally talkative young man, but the elder brother wasn't sure how to break him out of this shock.

"Talk to me, man," he urged after another long moment.

"She's… I don't know, bro," Uriah sighed, dropping his dark head into his hands, elbows on his knees. He presented a perfect picture of confused dejection. "How did she even start training like that?" he wanted to know, rambling now that the dam was broken. "Her back is in ribbons! How can a father do that to his child!? How can anyone justify this!? The scars, Zeke… She's been beaten – _tortured_ – for years. And Four left her there."

"He left because it was the only way _either_ of them could ever get out. If he'd stayed, she would have too. You know that, Uriah," Zeke replied, laying a large hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "If he'd stayed, _neither_ of them would be here now. She'd still be trapped in Abnegation with that monster."

Uriah ran a shaky hand over his close-cropped hair tiredly. He knew the older boy was right… but that didn't seem to lessen the raw fury he felt at the moment.

"_She_ was trapped with that monster alone for two years while _he_ soared through Initiation and straight into a cushy job in intelligence. She's here now, but those scars are never going to go away! And what else has he had the chance to do to her, trapped in that silent, concrete cage that Abnegation lives in?" He was working himself into a fine rant now, but Zeke was a little relieved to be getting the expected reaction. "How long has she been told that she deserved that?" he spat, "I overheard you and Four talking once. 'This is for your own good,' that's what he used to tell them, right? And what do you think that bastard did when one of his punching bags got out? He turned his rage on the other, on _Lilla_; I'll guaran-damn-tee it!"

"Quiet, bro. She needs to rest," Zeke cautioned, wanting to let his brother get it out, but needing their patient to sleep too.

"How is she going to survive here, Zeke?" Uriah demanded desperately, his eyes finally leaving Lilla's still form to meet the other dark gaze. "She left violence to come to more of it. What was she thinking?"

"That's what Four is worried about too. I'm not though. Yeah, we're a rough bunch," the older one agreed, "but here she can fight back. Here she can learn to defend herself against the violence, and be rewarded for doing so. Back there, if she fought back, she just got beat worse. I know what Four went through, and it was easily just as bad for Lilla; worse probably, these past two years. Here, though… Here she can win."

* * *

Eric wasn't normally one to have trouble sleeping. He usually worked so hard during the day, and kept up his training so hard in the evening, that he was far too exhausted to even think by the time he crashed into his bed at night. Which was the trick to getting to sleep; not thinking. His mind was one that never turned off, always whirling in one direction or another. And there was much he didn't _want_ to think about.

This night, however, he was awake. Insomnia a rare problem for the Dauntless leader, he finally got frustrated with trying to sleep, and slipped out of his room with a silence only a trained killer could achieve. He didn't know where he was going, just that he would start breaking things if he stayed in that room. It was a nice apartment, nicer than the ones for the normal members, but it was dark and suddenly felt oppressive, and was not helping his turbulent thoughts in the least.

The worst part was that Eric wasn't even sure what the thoughts were that were keeping him up at all hours. Was it the continuing rivalry with Four? That was part of it. Max wanted to offer his rival a position as a leader. Four had always turned him down, but that wouldn't last. Eric knew he would have to fight to stay on top. That was how Dauntless worked. You fight for every breath, every step, every small joy. Sometimes he wondered if he should have stayed in Erudite. He was smart enough – had always been top of his class, in fact – but knowledge without action was boring. At sixteen he'd wanted to do something. Anything, really, that would give him some sort of action. By seventeen, he was contentedly placed as a leader of the Faction that favored action over everything else. But the rivalry wasn't all of it; he just didn't know what the rest was.

Instead of stewing in his thoughts any longer, Eric decided to walk. Maybe some time in the Pit would settle him. He already had too many piercings in his face, although he did enjoy the intimidating look they gave him. So that was out… but a new tattoo was an idea. It would give him something to focus on for a while, and then he could go back to bed.

With that idea in mind, the domineering young man set out for the Pit, where he knew the tattoo shop would be open, despite the hour. The winding paths from the living quarters down to the Pit were steep and narrow, and most had no rails. It was an experience, just getting from one place to another; one he relished.

On the way, he rounded a corner, only to draw up short at an odd sight. Standing in front of him, leaning on one of the few rails in the compound, was the Abnegation fluff. _Lilla_, his mind supplied once more.

"What are you doing here, Initiate!?" he growled, and much to his pleasure, she jumped and whirled to face him, eyes a bit wider than normal. It was the first time he'd gotten the reaction from the chit he was looking for. And it was satisfying.

"Nothing," Lilla replied evenly, catching her breath quickly. Eric had startled her. She was on edge, having slipped out of Zeke's room once both boys were sound asleep. The creams they'd applied had already started working to lessen her pain, and she was restless. The young leader met her innocent stare with a fierce glare, disbelief clear in his eyes.

"I won't ask again, girl."

"The answer remains the same. I am doing nothing but standing here."

"Why?" Eric demanded. He was irritated by this entirely unwelcome interruption to his late night solitude. The last thing he wanted to deal with was the girl who had him so damn confused! And, though he'd managed to startle her this once, the speed with which she'd regained her composure was unheard of. She should not have this little fear of him. Every other Initiate – hell, most full members even – were absolutely terrified by his imposing presence. So why was this one little girl so completely unafraid?

"It seemed like a good idea."

Eric snarled down at her, taking one menacing step forward. Lilla didn't back down, simply gazed back at him impassively as he bore down on her. His muscular frame was intimidating, and his dark eyes glared coldly enough to freeze, but she just couldn't summon the energy to fear him. One harsh, calloused hand reached out to grip her chin painfully between two large, solid fingers, forcing her face upward. As Eric stared down into her pale, piercing eyes, he realized something he hadn't seen before. There was something there, hidden deep in the depths of her cool façade. It wasn't fear, as he'd like it to be, but it was there, something dark…

"Be careful," Eric hissed, "No one would much care if one little piece of Abnegation fluff went soaring over the rail, and I would take great pleasure in watching that cool attitude of yours morph into terror as you fell." To his aggravation, her expression didn't change. With a rough shove, he sent Lilla stumbling back into the rail behind her. The impact to her back hurt, despite the healing creams already working, and it drew a gasp unwillingly from the Initiate, who hunched over instinctually to brace herself against the pain.

Eric sneered down at her, his strong jaw clenched and full lips twisted into a cruel smirk. It couldn't have hurt _that_ bad, he thought. If her pain tolerance was so low that a little shove made her gasp out like that, he was going to enjoy watching her attempts at fighting the next day. She was going to be flattened. The thought didn't stir the same savage pleasure that he would have expected though. Didn't he want to see the cool little chit be taken down a few pegs? Yes, but, then again, he wanted to be the one to do it himself.

"If you were smart, girl, you'd know when you're beaten. People fear me for a reason," he growled in warning, pressing forward another threatening step when she all too quickly straightened her spine and stood defiantly firm again under his merciless gaze. Did she have no sense of self-preservation at all?

"I don't think I ever claimed intelligence as one of my more prominent traits," Lilla replied, wondering at her own boldness when it came to the intimidating man in front of her. She knew quite well that he could hurt her, probably worse than Marcus ever could have even dreamed of, and she suspected he would enjoy doing so… so why wasn't she frightened? Was it because she'd spent so long in fear, that she'd become desensitized? Or was it – and this sounded more than mildly absurd, even in her own mind – because she knew on some level that he wouldn't?

Eric watched Lilla's thin, elfin face like a hawk for a long, tense moment. He was the clear predator, and she the chosen prey, but this prey seemed stubbornly defiant to the lurking danger. Even with his warning just given, she answered with sarcasm. Was she really that stupid? With a snarl, Eric raised one hand, intending to backhand her for her insolence. He was a leader, and he would have her respect.

Lilla saw the hand poised to strike, and flinched.

It was only slight, and if he hadn't been watching her so closely, he never would have seen it, but her grey eyes widened, pupils dilated, her head ducked slightly, and her shoulders hunched. Despite all that, she didn't even try to move out of the way of the incoming blow. _What the freaking hell_? What Dauntless didn't even try to fight back at such a threat? She'd reacted with cool impassivity every time he'd insulted or berated her. She had shown no fear when he singled her out in training, when he forced her to strike at him and invaded her personal space at every opportunity. Hell, she had barely even reacted when he all by strangled her! This was what it took to get the frightened reaction he was looking for? An open hand raised in threat? It made no sense, convoluting the puzzle that this irritating little Initiate presented even further.

With an assessing, curious look – one he concealed with a falsely satisfied smirk – Eric slowly lowered his hand. He wasn't even sure himself why he didn't follow through on the threat. He'd fully intended to do so, when he raised his hand to slap her; he wanted to teach her a lesson about curbing that attitude of hers. But now that he had the fear from her, however small it was, he found it… strangely unsettling. If she'd reacted to any of his other threats with fear, he thought that this one flinch wouldn't have fazed him like this, but she hadn't. She'd shown him no fear, except with this small gesture, and it was utterly confusing. That mildly panicked look he'd seen for the briefest second in her wide eyes just didn't belong. He found that he didn't like it there, and that was even more confusing than her unusual reaction. What was this little fluff doing to him?

The former Erudite didn't like to be confused, especially about himself. He'd spent a long time developing his self-awareness, his intimidating, respect-commanding demeanor. And he didn't like things to be unpredictable, which was exactly what this particular irritant of a girl was proving to be.

Lilla, for her part, cursed herself for reacting at all, especially under the gaze of her least favorite instructor. Even _Four's_ now frigid gaze – one she'd at one time never thought she'd see directed at her – would have been preferable. Of all people to see her momentary weakness, why did it have to be the one person who could, and almost certainly would, use it to the best of his ability against her?

"What the hell was that, Stiff?" Eric demanded in that low, rumbling tone of his. It was one calculated to be commanding. He expected prompt answers to his questions. Always.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lilla answered in a monotone. Eric considered actually slapping her this time, rather than lowering his hand at the last second. But she was ready for the repeated threat, and managed just barely to contain the ingrained reaction when he raised his hand again. For the most part, at least. She couldn't help the increase in heart rate, which Eric could see at her pulse point, just under her impossibly pale skin. _Not so impassive after all_, he thought.

Instead of letting his hard hand fall across her face, he rested it once again on her neck, pressing lightly. The feel of her racing pulse under his palm was oddly invigorating. He was pleased that he was finally getting some reaction out of her. Although he wasn't so sure that he was satisfied with what reaction it was. While he'd expected her fear to be sweet once he had it, he now couldn't quite sort out whether or not it was really what he wanted. Despite the conflicted thoughts, he leaned in until his lips were directly next to her small ear. Lilla could feel Eric's warm breath against her neck as he spoke, and she couldn't help the shiver that raced down her spine.

"Don't _lie_ to me, little girl," he all but hissed the words, "This is your last warning to tread carefully. I repeat: people fear me for a reason." With a final firm squeeze to her slender throat, he stepped back and crossed his arms, standing in that same menacing stance he favored most of the time, looming over her despite the increased space between them. "Now why did you flinch?"

"Most people flinch when they are going to be hit and can't reasonably fight back," Lilla deflected. Half-truths and deflections were second nature to her. It was the only way to survive in the Eaton household. "You are a leader and I'd rather be beaten than out on my ass. If you are going to hit me, hit me. I can take a few blows," she finished with a nonchalant shrug, tilting her chin defiantly once more.

Once again, Eric found himself surprised by the little chit, a state he was quickly growing to loathe. He wasn't sure which was braver: being willing to fight back against someone who could kick you out, or to take a beating in order to keep that someone from doing so… Either way, she fit the bill. She'd been fighting back against his bullying subtly ever since she'd come, and now she was willing to just stand there while he hit her. If he was being honest, if only with himself, he didn't have a specific reason for baiting her the way he had. She just got under his skin, a burr to irritate and inflame. She was an enigma, a twisted little puzzle, and he had always enjoyed puzzles; even the frustrating, infuriating, hard to solve ones. Those, he decided were the most challenging. And therefore the best.

Lilla watched Eric's lips twitch into a slight smirk. It had the effect, surprisingly enough, of softening his features just a bit. It wasn't the same vicious smirk he'd given her before, but one of what seemed to be genuine amusement. At least, she was pretty sure that was the case. It was hard to really tell for certain. Without the menacing glare, she realized that – despite too many piercings – he wasn't all that bad looking. His strong jaw and sharp features were actually rather appealing, and his dark hair and eyes contrasted nicely with slightly bronzed skin. Shaking off the odd thoughts, she continued to meet his now curious gaze with an impassive look.

"You have no sense of danger at all, do you?" he inquired, not sounding nearly as frightening as he had a moment before.

"Very little," Lilla replied seriously. It was true enough. She simply didn't have the energy to be afraid of the things most other people considered dangerous. Her attention had always been on the real danger to herself and her brother: their father. The rest was all just background noise.

"That will serve you well here," Eric said, his lips twitching even further, "but if you continue to test my patience, it will run out." His look and tone turned darker. "That's not something you want, little girl."

Lilla said nothing, but conceded the point with a curt nod.

"Go get some sleep. Your first fight is tomorrow," the imposing leader ordered, then stalked away without another word, both frustrated and amused by the girl he left behind him. Breathing a sigh of relief, said girl wasted no time in hurrying back to Zeke's apartment.

She was careful to stay quiet as she slipped back into the large bed, still feeling a little guilty about taking it from its owner. It wasn't long before she'd drifted back into sleep, exhausted from the small burst of adrenaline that dealing with Eric had brought on. She slept through until morning, much to her surprise.

* * *

Meanwhile, Eric did not return immediately to his own apartment. Instead, he had an idea; one he wasn't sure why he hadn't considered before. He was a leader, with access to the files on each Initiate, including the transfers. He couldn't figure out the little Abnegation fluff, so maybe her history might give some clue. Research came naturally to the former Erudite.

It didn't take much to pull up the files. Lilliana_ Eaton_...? The Abnegation leader's daughter? That was a shock. He'd heard there was a scandal at the Choosing Ceremony, but such things were really of no interest to him most of the time. He kept up with current events, but gossip wasn't all that important. It was a waste of time, when there was no way to know what information gained was empirical fact and what was conjecture.

As he read through the very short history, Eric almost let his jaw hit the floor.

_Lilliana Eaton_

_Born: Abnegation_

_Faction: Transfer Initiate, Dauntless_

_Age: 16_

_Father: Marcus Eaton, Abnegation_

_Mother: Evelyn Eaton, Abnegation_

That was all to be expected. It was the final line that brought on the stunned disbelief in the irascible, angry man.

_Siblings: Tobias Eaton, Dauntless_

Tobias Eaton… he knew that name. Then it hit him. She was related to FOUR!? His damn sister?! Eric felt his mind reeling… it wasn't possible. Why hadn't she taken advantage of the connection? Why had she done nothing to even indicate they were related? If anything, she seemed to avoid the older Eaton. Bad blood? Or something else? It explained the unaccountable concern Four had displayed for her in training, when he'd all but demanded Eric take her to the infirmary for apparently no reason. But it raised so many more questions than it answered. No one really remembered Four's real name, even those from their year. He'd always been so taciturn, so unassuming, that very few even bothered to learn it in the first place. And he'd earned his nickname during his Initiation, so the wider world of Dauntless knew him by that.

Lilla Eaton… Just what the hell was she doing in Dauntless? Eric didn't know why Four had transferred, but he had fit into the harsh Faction well. Too well, if you were to ask the man who came in second to his first place. Would the younger sister fit in as well? Thus far, she seemed pretty hopeless in the lessons with the punching bags. Although, he thought she could probably be pretty quick if she wanted to, and that might save her in a real fight. But she seemed almost completely fearless, and that would go a long way in making her Dauntless material. Still, he could use this information. He wasn't sure how yet, but it would come in handy to hurt either of the Eaton siblings, should he choose to do so. He would wait until the opportune moment, and then deal his ace against Four. Revenge would be sweet…


End file.
